Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to commend the schoolchildren of the Great Southern for hosting their very own combined schools Anzac event on the eve of Anzac Day. I could not have been more proud to witness the spectacle of over 2,000 schoolchildren from 34 schools marching en masse down York Street, led by the Great Southern Grammar school pipe band. Arriving at the Anzac Peace Park on the waterfront, I was mesmerised by the kaleidoscope of multi-coloured uniforms as students tiny and tall marched proudly past the dais to acknowledge dignitaries, RSL veterans and, in particular, special guest retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston.

The service was performed almost entirely by local students, with Casey Wilmore from Albany Senior High School presiding as master of ceremonies. The welcome to country was performed by Tahliah Dimer from Great Southern Grammar School, and prayers, poetry recitations and readings followed, with almost every Albany school represented. Michael Taylor from Albany Senior High School gave the keynote address—a moving first-person account of a soldier's journey from Albany to the battlefields of the First World War. A moving Last Post was played with precision by Carl Evers of North Albany Senior High School, as the chilly Albany wind whipped through the crowd, a timely reminder of the hardships our forebears endured in the trenches and in the fields. After a poignant address from Sir Angus Houston, the choir performed a moving rendition of Glyn Lehmann's Anzac ballad The Green Hills of Albany. I congratulate each and every student for their amazing tribute to our Anzac history and look forward to the part you all play in Australia's future.