Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I laced up my sneakers and hit the road with around 22 other walkers and a dozen supporters to march in the local Soldier On walk to raise money to support the mental health of veterans. Across Australia, participants are walking 96 kilometres, which is the length of the Kokoda Track, throughout March in the March On Challenge in support of Soldier On. However, we like to do things a little differently in Tasmania, and a local group, known as the Long Patrol, spearheaded by serving ADF member Oliver Breeze, has undertaken the challenge in less than 24 hours, walking from Prospect to Deloraine and back, finishing at the Paterson Barracks.

Having supported the event over the past three years through donations, I missed out on joining the walk last year due to COVID and was eager to join them this year, although, admittedly, I was very naive as to just how tough a 96-kilometre walk would be. I'm proud to say that I managed 47 kilometres, almost 10 hours of walking, before I pulled up stumps and spent the remainder of the time with the volunteer team supporting the walkers who made it back through to Launceston before lunchtime. I'm in awe of the men and women of the Long Patrol team, some of whom have been taking part for a few years now, and I value the conversations we had on the walk.

I'm thrilled to say that the goal set by the team to fundraise $20,000 has been exceeded with a few weeks left to go and I will hopefully finish my 96 kilometres in the next week or so.