Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Along the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, on the memorial at Isurava, at the summit overlooking the valley below, there are four values inscribed on the pillars: courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice. These are the four values of leadership entrenched by the Anzacs, embodied by the heroes of Kokoda, which live on in the men and women of the Australian Defence Force today. There is a long and proud history of service in the ADF that is felt in communities and families across our country, including in my electorate of Lindsay.

A few weeks ago we marked Remembrance Day, a solemn day of reflection for our country, as we remember the service and sacrifice of the 102,000 Australians who have lost their lives in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions. We also recognise those who returned home to Australia, from theatres of war all around the world, bearing physical and emotional burdens. I commemorated Remembrance Day with our community at Memory Park in Penrith.

One name marked on the memorial is that of Private William Starling. Private Starling was born in Penrith. He went to the local public school, was a member of the local rifle club and worked at the Penrith Post Office. He enlisted in 1915 and sailed to Egypt for training before his battalion was deployed to Pozieres, on the Western Front, in France. Pozieres was a strategically important position due to the advantage of the high ground to launch offensives. Australians captured Pozieres on 23 July 1916 and were subjected to relentless artillery bombardment. Private Starling was wounded the following day and died from his injuries, at 19 years of age. Private Starling was one of 6,800 Australians who were killed at or died of wounds from the Battle of Pozieres. Like so many others and so many to follow, Private Starling exhibited the values marked on the Kokoda Trail: the courage to travel to distant lands in conflict and fight for Australia; the endurance to be pushed to the limits and to keep going; the mateship, the spirit of camaraderie, that defined the Anzacs; and the sacrifice for our country.

The Prime Minister recently joined me at the St Mary's Vietnam Veterans Outpost for a community morning tea with some of our local veterans and members of our community. A big part of the St Mary's outpost and why it means so much to local people and families is how it keeps people connected. Overcoming restrictions and lockdowns has been incredibly challenging, but they have continued to provide extraordinary advocacy and, importantly, mental health services for their members, to ensure they're getting the best support, particularly when many people felt very alone. It was wonderful to see people gathering together in person again at the St Mary's outpost, a testament to the hard work of our community going out and getting vaccinated. I send a special shout-out to the president of the outpost, Sam Vecchio, who works so hard for every single veteran in our community. It was a wonderful barbecue that we put on for the PM, with lots of sausages, eggs and bacon, which he enjoyed very much as he had breakfast with our community just last week.

From our veterans to our local cadets, Lindsay has a strong, proud and ongoing commitment to the service of our nation and respect for our ADF. The ADF's contribution to shaping our environment—

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