Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset of my contribution with regard to the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli I would like to touch on a few local facets. I have heard many speakers previously talk about the large crowds that gathered this year as compared to previous years. I would be dishonest if I said that was the case in my electorate. Ingleburn always attracts thousands of people, that is a reality of having a significant number of army bases in the electorate, or close to it, and the related settlement of people after they left the services. But again this year there were thousands and I want to put on the record my appreciation of the efforts of Ray James, Patrick O'Grady, John Bow, secretary John Lees and John Beer. In a few weeks they will celebrate the move of their club 40 years ago to Chester Road.

I thought the one good aspect this year compared to previous years was the way in which they involved young people from local schools in the actual major speech on the day and in other important aspects. Speaking of the locals, we each had a committee in our electorate to distribute funds and I want to commend David Beddie from the Historical Society, Learna Caypa, Ken Foster, who looks after Vietnam veterans, local councillor and veteran Wal Glynn, Ray James, Vicki Meadows, from my office, and George Sachse for their work. The funded projects connected with the Ingleburn RSL are the wall of remembrance, an ode on the black granite, and a gala day. Casula High School's memorial garden was also funded. We also gave some money to the overall Kangaroo March, which will go through many electorates, and, finally, to the Liverpool City Council for what turned out to be a very valuable effort at the Casula Powerhouse, the Home Front Exhibition.

As I indicated there have been bases in the electorate for quite some time. I guess the most infamous event connected with Werriwa in the First World War was the Liverpool Riot, where a large number of soldiers drank Liverpool dry, seized a train in metropolitan Sydney and went to the city, where one of them was killed by police. The state government held a cabinet meeting that night to change the liquor laws of New South Wales. That is an infamous aspect of First World War activity in Werriwa. However, it is typical of the area that, from Queen Street in Campbelltown alone, 15 men volunteered to join the fight in Europe in 1914. Overall, Campbelltown, then a country town—and one of the oldest towns in New South Wales—was still very much a rural area, yet 40 diggers joined up in 1914 at the outbreak.

I have heard many people talk about the involvement of their families in World War One. I will not dwell on mine. My Scottish grandfather, John Ferguson, served with Britain in the First World War and Australia in the Second World War. On my mother's side Donald Betts, a wheat and sheep farmer from Junee Reefs who had migrated to this country at 14 years of age, enlisted in the 1st Light Horse and was involved in the Middle East. I guess it was symptomatic of how much that meant to him that he called his farm Romani. My mother did not know why the farm was called that, and nor did I until the time about 10 years ago that I walked through the National War Memorial. He had chosen to name his farm after a battle in Palestine in the First World War.

I do not want to dwell on them, but I do want dwell on my wife's grandfather, Denis Walsh, who was of Indigenous extraction. In 1917, a shortage of manpower and the reality of a volunteer force meant that for the first time Indigenous people could join the armed forces. Up until that time they had to pretend they were, in many cases, Italian, and, what is remarkable, Maoris. I do not know why Maoris were accepted in the Australian armed forces, as opposed to Indigenous Australians, but that was the case. I think it is worth putting on the record that he enlisted before 1917, so he obviously did pretend he was something else. He died in 1923 from the effects of a gassing. A number of aspects of this are very interesting as they concern our history and where we have come from.

The local paper commented of this Indigenous serviceman: 'He had no property or money, was uninsured, belonged to no benefit society and had no sort of pension.' The paper went on to say, '… it is extraordinary that the man's request for a pension should have been rejected. He leaves a widow and a family of young children, utterly without support, and the case is one which might very well engage the attention of the Military Department.' He clearly died from war related injuries as a result of gassing. That was the determination of the local doctor. That was the negative aspect.

I guess the positive aspect was that the town of Singleton in Northern New South Wales then launched a major appeal to support the family, started by the Singleton RS&SIL, which is the predecessor of the RSL. They kicked it off with 15 pounds. There were many contributions to that appeal. My understanding of the family history is that, while Legacy did not exist at that time, the children were eventually adopted by Anglican ministers and other people in Sydney, and that is how they were looked after. It is worth putting on record the reality that Indigenous servicemen were not recognised and were discriminated against. There are various estimates, because it is such a difficult thing to calculate, but it is estimated that between 400 and 1,000 Indigenous Australians fought for the country in the First World War.

I now want to turn to some very timely comments by Bernard Porter in an article in this week's edition of the London Review of Books. A review of four books on Gallipoli gives an appraisal of some of the realities. The article states:

The conditions that both armies were faced with at Gallipoli were among the worst on any front in the Great War. Nearly all the men had diarrhoea or dysentery most of the time … 'Sanitary arrangements were non-existent,' … damnable Suvla Bay flies, and the lice with which every officer and man swarmed' … searing heat in summer, followed by winter temperatures that froze some men to death … the awful food … the utter exhaustion of men who often had to go several days without sleep, stomachs churning and skins crawling with insects, without any proper rest or leave.

The article contains quotes from both side of this conflict which really drive home the intense suffering and loss of life:

A British petty officer 'watched in wordless horror' as a boat floated by his ship containing 'a mass of corpses huddled together … everywhere crimson mingling with the brown, and here and there a waxen-white face with draggled hair staring up into the smiling heavens … Such was our introduction to the glories of war.' … ' The carnage it caused is awful,' a Turkish lieutenant wrote after one engagement. 'Dismembered parts of bodies are intermingled. Blood has drained out of bodies, and chests and arms look like wax. Shins and legs, seared by the explosion, are purple. Some bones have been stripped of flesh.'

We know that the proportion of Australians killed in the First World War was significant, particularly Western Australians, whose death and maim rate was extreme. Those quotes from both the Turkish and the allied sides give some indication of the losses and the suffering of people.

In the few moments remaining to me I would like to talk about the Granville Historical Society, which is in my former electorate. It is one of the most efficient and recognised historical groups in Sydney. Once again with the First World War they have put out a major work covering the 157 people—quite a significant number—from the suburb of Granville who died. They speak of the early gaiety of people going to war. A wristwatch was given to each of the volunteers. The municipal brass band went up the main street of the town, sending people off. Amongst the stories they cover is that of the mayor's brother, Sergeant Henry Charlton, who was at Gallipoli. Walter Armitage never recovered, due to exposure to Turkish gunfire. He was a migrant and, believe it or not, a member of the Granville Yorkshire Association. Lance Corporal David Shiels was an apprentice at the Everleigh workshop and a graduate of Granville TAFE. Bombardier Stanley Chippendale was the son of the local postman. Trooper George Nobbs trained to do country teaching at Hereford House in Glebe, which apparently trained all country teachers at that stage. Alfred Osborne was a child who was adopted two days after his mother died. This major work by the Granville Historical Society is a good effort. I think the society has produced about 10 full-scale books of local history over the years. It has certainly been involved again this year.

At the end of these recognition activities, I can say that Ingleburn RSL and the community in the Werriwa electorate played a major role. There was remembrance of the families affected and keen interest in the broader contribution made by people to the war.

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