Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

We are fortunate to live in a country where the sacrifice of Australian men and women has safeguarded our freedoms. The disrespect shown this weekend with the vandalisation of four memorials here in our nation's capital was disgraceful. In my community, memorials in Montrose and Seville have also fallen victim to this deplorable vandalism. I want to pay tribute to my state colleague the member for Evelyn, Bridget Vallence, for her strong advocacy for tougher penalties for those who vandalise our war memorials.

I had a call this morning from Lilydale RSL president Bill Dobson. Bill and many other veterans rightfully want to see more done by the Prime Minister and his government to deter these abhorrent acts. As I stand here today, an act like this receives no more punishment than vandalism at a train station. When the Montrose memorial was vandalised, I don't remember the hatred painted but rather the actions of locals who rallied together to clean the memorial so Remembrance Day services could go ahead. As a nation, we can take a lesson from my community. We should be focusing on the things that bring us together, not the things that divide us.

That was the reason why I hosted my Don Parsons Memorial Anzac Creative Writing Prize—to raise awareness of the significance of our war memorials amongst future generations. We have a role to play as leaders in our communities, and that starts by us working together in this parliament to protect the legacy of our veterans and preserve the war memorials that honour their memory.

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