Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today, on the international day of the nurse, we don't just celebrate a profession; we celebrate the backbone of our healthcare system. As a nurse myself for over 40 years, I know that behind every statistic and every bedside is a nurse who has dedicated themselves to the quiet, often exhausting, but deeply profound role of caring.

I want to pay tribute to a true Australian hero, Lieutenant Colonel Sister Vivian Bullwinkel. In 1942, after the sinking of the SS Vyner Brooke, Vivian was the sole survivor of the Bangka Island massacre. She was wounded, a prisoner of war for over three years, and yet her spirit never broke. She returned home not with bitterness but with a renewed mission to serve, eventually becoming a leader in our nursing profession and a champion for the recognition of her fallen sisters. Her legacy is a testament to the resilience that defines nurses. Whether it was a battlefield in the 1940s or the remote area communities where I worked, or whether it's research institutions or the front line of the modern pandemic, nurses show up. We advocate for the vulnerable and we carry the weight of our patients when they have some of their hardest days.

To my fellow nurses: your work is seen; your sacrifices are valued, and today we celebrate you. Let's continue to lead with the courage of Vivian Bullwinkel and the compassion that makes our profession the most trusted profession in the world.

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