Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an event at the Brighton RSL in my electorate, organised so that members could be presented with certificates under the Australian government's Saluting Their Service commemorations program. It was a great privilege and honour for me meet the 21 veterans of the Second World War who attended, hear their stories, present them with a certificate of appreciation and thank them for their service on behalf of the Australian government.

In the room were former members of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force. The youngest was 87, most were around 93, and they still looked in great shape. They served in New Guinea, Borneo, Timor, Morotai, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and around Australia. There were Darwin Defenders, pilots who flew Kittyhawks and rear gunners from Bomber Command. There were soldiers who served as part of the Japanese occupation forces; even a nurse who served at the Army hospital that was later to become the repatriation general hospital in my electorate. I would like to thank the Brighton RSL for organising the event, and I would like to thank those who attended—for their service and for sharing their stories with us.

At the time of the Second World War Australia had a population of seven million people; one million of those were in uniform. To know some of them has been one of the great privileges of my life.