Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week it was my great pleasure to welcome to the town of Two Wells in my electorate a Leopard tank. This decommissioned tank has already become a great local icon. The Plains Producer, which is the local paper that covers the Adelaide Plains, reported that ‘The Leopard has landed’. Its front page has a photo of the tank and various people, including me. There has already been a big splash for this decommissioned Leopard tank.

For the last two years or so the local RSL in Two Wells, whose president is Tony Flaherty and secretary is John Allen, have worked very hard on getting this tank. They are very committed to the local town and their local club, making sure that it is not just a club for veterans but a club for the whole community. This decommissioned Leopard tank, which has been placed in the main street, is a great symbol of their commitment to the local community.

I thank Nick Femia and Rick Martin from Milagro Construction and Premix Concrete, who constructed and donated to the town the base on which to sit the tank. It is a great commitment by both those companies. I acknowledge their contribution.

We had 100 or so people out to watch the Leopard come off the back of a truck and be put on its base by a rather large crane. Many members of the community got a chance to sit inside the tank and examine what a claustrophobic environment it must have been for the soldiers who served in it. My electorate has a big defence presence, with RAAF Base Edinburgh and with DSTO. Most recently we had 7RAR come down from Darwin. As Tony Flaherty said to the local paper:

It’s important—

that people—

remember the futility of war and the people who died wearing a uniform—both men and women.

That sentiment was there when this tank arrived. It serves to remind us of the tremendous commitment of our fighting men and women. It reminds us that they have often died and sacrificed to protect not only our liberty but the liberty of others as well.