Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to tell a fairly unique but little-known Northern Territory story. As many would be aware, this week marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin, which was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. Some 242 Japanese aircrafts targeted our city and harbour on 19 February 1942. A number of military and merchant vessels were in the harbour during the attack, and many were sunk by the raid. Following the war, the wreckages of the ships caused logistical problems for our harbour and severely hindered future development of the port. A salvage operation went to open tender, and, somewhat ironically and controversially, a Japanese group, the Fujita Salvage Company, won the contract to clear the wrecks.

As it had been less than two decades since the bombing, initially the workers were not permitted to set foot on Australian soil. Instead, the first ship they raised became the base and living quarters for the Japanese workers. Slowly but surely, a relationship sprung up between the Darwin community, Mr Fujita and the workers employed by the Fujita Salvage Company. During the salvage operation, construction of a new United Anglican Church was underway and conversations between Mr Fujita, the architect, the Japanese ambassador and the church led to the brass from the ship SS Zealandia that was being salvaged to be used to cast 77 bronze crosses for the new church. One of these bronze crosses now has pride of place in my Parliament House office and will be on display tomorrow morning in the Reps alcove.

It is crucial that we, as a nation, never forget the events of World War II and the sacrifice of ordinary Australians who went through that terrible time. It is heartening to know that despite the damage and suffering that occurred during the war, especially to families living in Darwin, that we were able to forgive and move on from what happened. There is now a very strong relationship between Japan and Australia, and I like to think that the actions of people like Mr Fujita played a big part in building these strong relationships. Tomorrow, I join with my fellow NT parliamentarians to host a bipartisan event here at Parliament House to mark the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin and the more than 243 lives that were lost. But we will also tell this story of the story of the Fujita Salvage Company and the reconciliation that has occurred in the years since. I want to thank of the generous sponsorship of the Northern Territory government, and I hope that members can join us in this bipartisan and historic event tomorrow morning. We will have members from the Uniting Church of Darwin in attendance as well as consular representation from the US and Japan, and from the British High Commission.