Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week Australians have been confronted with the tragic loss of four of our bravest men and women. On 28 July 2023, an Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter impacted waters off Lindeman Island in Queensland. A crew of four ADF personnel from the 6th Aviation Regiment were conducting a late-night training exercise as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre. After a lengthy search-and-rescue mission, all four crew members are presumed dead. We mourn the loss of Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs. We stand in support of their loved ones as they grapple with a great loss—fathers, sons, partners, brothers, colleagues and friends.

I want to pay tribute to the servicemen and servicewomen of the 6th Aviation Regiment and the wider Australian Defence Force. We also thank the defence forces of the United States and Canada, and all of the visiting men and women in uniform that are on Talisman Sabre doing their bit to try to find these four lost men. Right across the country, from Defence Force installations to kitchen tables and this very parliament, I know that Australians are united in shared grief and in their prayers.