Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a great honour of mine to attend last Friday night's Emergency Services and ADF Sunset Showcase at the Riverway Stadium. Troops from 1RAR and detachments, with emergency services personnel, paraded in front of their local community, putting on a display for the crowd of a proud garrison city.

This was a welcome home and tribute event for our brave men and women who went to Afghanistan on that rescue mission just recently. This was probably one of the most dangerous missions that we've sent our soldiers into in recent times. So young, so proud and so dedicated these soldiers are. We sent them into the belly of the beast, a place where there was no rule of law and there were no support elements. There were not patrol bases or big FOBs anywhere. They went in to do a job, and they did it extremely well. They served alongside US marines, and 13 of those US marines were killed by an ISIS attack. Just hours before, soldiers from Townsville was standing side by side with them. This affected a lot of them, as it would, and they have missed their mates. They know that going into places like Afghanistan is tough, working so close to where the Taliban are, just in front of them. I want to say thank you for their service and thank you to them, and also happy birthday to the Royal Australian Regiment.