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

I rise to pay my respects to Australian Army Warrant Officer Class 1 Barry 'Buck' Buckley OAM. My mates speak of him highly as a great man. He was a photographer, a soldier, a father and a husband. He started his career at Kapooka in 1962 and initially served in the infantry and the engineer corps. He was a Vietnam veteran and he served in Cambodia. He was also a veteran of Somalia. In the final years of his career, he spent some time in the north. He was in the north with us on Kangaroo 95 but also in Queensland, at Shoalwater Bay, and with NORFORCE in the Kimberley. He really got around. In fact, he saw the world serving our nation.

Gary Ramage is a photographer and a veteran of 30 years. He is, of course, well known and respected in this place from taking photos of all of us pollies from the gallery. Gary has done so much in his career and he served with Buck in Somalia. Gary said that Buck knew that a box of black and white 8 x 10 photographic paper would hold exactly four cans of VB! When the team deployed the mobile darkroom over to Somalia, it was full of beer. Sadly, it had to be disposed of on arrival in the country.

Of all the corps and jobs he had, Buck loved his Australian Army Public Relations Service the most. He loved the photographers under his reign. He always had their backs when they stuffed up and would ensure that they learned from their mistakes. I'm told that there were many such mistakes. He fought hard to have his corps recognised. He changed the badge and the lanyard. But, above all, he gave his soldiers self-worth. It was the smallest corps in the regular Australian Army and he built in that corps esprit de corps, which is a great credit to him and it is remembered by all who worked with him.

Another mate of mine who served with Buck was more on our side of the House. He served with Buck and he noted that Buck was quite fond of conservative politics. In 1996, when he met the then Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel and previous Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, he welcomed her by saying, 'Welcome back to government, Ma'am.' There is honour above politics, of course, and he respected the opinions of others. To many, he was a mate and a teacher and he will be sadly missed. Our condolences go to Robyn, Barry's family and his mates. Rest in peace, Buck. Vale, Warrant Officer Class 1 Barry 'Buck' Buckley OAM.

In the time remaining, I want to acknowledge the work of the veterans in Darwin. Last night, they conducted a candlelight vigil for the people of Afghanistan. There is an organisation called the Council for Australian Veterans, or CAV for short. It's a new organisation that is seeking to bring together all the ESOs and it's an organisation that works from the ground up. I thought it showed great leadership for the CAV to invite members of the community and veterans and their families, regardless of where they served, to come to the cenotaph in Darwin and hold a candlelight vigil for the people of Afghanistan, to not only remember and reflect but also connect with and support each other. They walked together to the cenotaph. There were veterans and civilians from all walks of life. It's a great credit to Adam Giuliani, the president, and all the members that they could extend that to our community in the Top End.