ADDRESS TO AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL DEVELOPMENT LAUNCH

I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, I pay my respects to elders past and present.

In particular, I want to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who fought for this country even when they weren’t counted in the census, or treated as equals in the law.

They were far more loyal to Australia than Australia was to them – and we remember their bravery.

·         Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP

·         Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Hon Darren Chester MP

·         Dr Brendan Nelson AO

·         Mr Kerry Stokes AC

·         My parliamentary colleagues

·         Diplomatic representatives

·         And all the members of the Australian War Memorial Council along with the dedicated staff and volunteers whose tireless work is large part of the reason this institution is beloved by so many, both at home and abroad.

 

And I want to join with the Prime Minister in recognising Veterans who are here with us today and their families, who also serve.

 

Whatever political arguments we have in the chambers on either side of this room, both parties are here together today, united in our respect for your service.

 

And we stand together in our determination to do right by you and your families.

 

When John Curtin opened the Australian War Memorial he said its mission was to give:

 

Curtin’s vision was that it would, and I quote:

 

For all time.

 

When Curtin spoke those words, on 11 November 1941, 23 years after the end of ‘the war to end all wars’…

 

…Australians were once more engaged in a deadly struggle between freedom and tyranny.

 

And at that moment in time, the Allies’ eventual victory was by no means assured.

·         Most of Europe was under the jackboot.

·         The United States was yet to join the conflict

·         Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour was still a month away.

 

Even then, in the midst of all that turmoil and uncertainty and fear, Australians knew how important it was to honour the memory of those who lost their lives for our country.

 

And despite everything that has changed in our society, in our region, in the way we think of ourselves as nation, even in the way we interact with each other…

 

…when we come to the War Memorial, we still feel the reverence and respect and remembrance that those Australians must have felt on that opening day.

 

I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today and his funding commitment and on behalf of our leader Bill Shorten and the Labor Party, I am proud to say that we will be matching this commitment.

 

So that whenever the next election is and whatever happens, this work will carry on.

 

Work which will enable us to fittingly recognise the experiences of contemporary veterans and the sacrifices they have made. 

 

Just outside this building, there is another far smaller memorial, placed there by the RSL.

 

It says:

 

It’s an instruction to all of us, to ‘look around’ at our democracy, at our peaceful country, at our free people and understand this is what Australians risked and lost their lives to protect. As Members of Parliament, we have an extra responsibility to ‘look around’ at our current veterans, at their families.

We should ask what can we do to help with the transition to civilian life, to strip away the paperwork and obstacles and hassles and frustrations and just provide the support  they deserve.

 

The Mission of the Australian War Memorial is to assist Australians to remember, interpret and understand the Australian experience of war and its enduring impact on Australian society.

 

And so deepening our understanding of the experiences and sacrifices of our veterans and their loved ones should not only ensure we remember and reflect but strengthen our resolve to support our current and ex-serving men and women now and into the future. 

 

Lest We Forget.