Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to momentarily focus on Victoria and what is facing all of Australia. There is a deep sense of grief and loss, and there are many questions still to be answered. For all Australians it is a time when compassion and offers of practical help are pouring out towards Victorians. I think it is important that we continue to pray and support them in whatever way possible.

Today is also a date when we need to acknowledge the very important and tragic event that happened to the people on the HMAS Voyager and the HMAS Melbourne some 45 years ago. Today there is also a deep sense of loss which has been ongoing for many years. Today we remember the loss of 82 lives on the HMAS Voyager, which sank on the night of 10 February 1964, some 45 years ago. The destroyer Voyager was operating as ‘rescue destroyer’ for night flying operations just off Jervis Bay in New South Wales when she collided with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. The Voyager was cut in two. The bow section sank almost immediately while the stern section remained on the surface for several hours.

There was great bravery on that night. I would particularly like to highlight the bravery of one man. I mention Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers, who was serving on the Voyager. The story of his courage is well told in the Australian War Memorial’s ‘Fifty Australians’. It reads:

Rogers was one of more than 50 men trapped in darkness in a compartment of the sinking forward section.

He took control and tried to bring calm in the disastrous situation. He probably realised that not all would be able to get through a small escape hatch and that he, being a large man, had no chance at all. “He was more intent on getting the younger chaps out first,” said a survivor. The forward section finally sank about ten minutes after the impact. Rogers was heard leading his remaining doomed comrades in a prayer and a hymn during their final moments.

Rogers was later awarded the George Cross, the highest bravery award then available in peacetime, “for organising the escape of as many as possible and encouraging … those few who could not escape … to meet death alongside himself with dignity and honour”.

As we reflect today we must also remember that for 45 years the survivors have had to deal with loss. I refer to those men on the Voyager and the Melbourne and their families and friends who were left behind. The collision of the Melbourne and the Voyager is an example of the sad and too common occurrence of lives being lost in the service of Australia during peacetime. It is also a reminder that we must constantly strive to do better for all our young men and women in the Australian Defence Force and their families in both war and peacetime. We must remember them, we must honour them and it is important that we never forget.