Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Scarr for his question. As he has reminded us, today we mark Remembrance Day, the day on which we acknowledge the more than 102,000 men and women who tragically died during or as a result of warlike service, non-warlike service and through peacekeeping operations. Originally known as Armistice Day, today marks the day those guns fell silent on the Western Front during the First World War on 11 November 1918.

We had a population of around 4.5 million people at the time, and some 416,000 of those enlisted for service in the First World War. Tragically, over 60,000 of them would not return from the war. The allied nations first observed two minutes silence in honour of those who died and suffered during the war at 11.00 am on 11 November 1919, a hundred years ago today. From villages, towns and, of course, our state capitals, no corner of Australia was untouched by this war or those that have followed.

The names of our war dead are listed on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial. We have all seen them. We have all touched them. We're one of the few countries in the world that know the names of all our military personnel who died in war. The freedoms that we enjoy, the confidence we have that we can peacefully pursue our lives have not come without cost. We must remember those 102,000 always, not just to honour them but to fully appreciate what we have. Lest we forget.

The PRESIDENT: Senator Scarr, a supplementary question?