Page: 2454
Urgent Motion
[Debate resumed.]
Mrs PERRY (Auburn) [3.52 p.m.]: I support the urgent motion moved by the Premier that this House supports moves by the Turkish Government to secure World Heritage status for Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. I acknowledge my good friend the Turkish Consul-General, Niyazi Adali. It is often said that a collective national consciousness is borne out of either of two events: some sort of crucial victory or a decisive and terrible defeat. The landing of Australians at Gallipoli clearly falls into the latter group. Soldiers were thrust into a hopeless situation: they landed on a narrow strip of sand, and were confronted by overarching cliffs. Artillery and machine-gun fire rained down on them like a violent storm.
To put the enormity of Australia's loss into context, 8,709 Australians did not escape the confines of Anzac Cove; they lost their lives there. That is the equivalent of the present forces of the United States of America losing 520,000 men and women in a single campaign. But it was not only Australians who lost their lives. British, New Zealand and Turkish servicemen also came to finally rest in Gallipoli during the bloody campaign. For a site to be granted World Heritage listing it is required to be of outstanding universal value. I believe that is the case with Anzac Cove. Declaring it a World Heritage site is not just about commemorating a war zone and the conflict that took place there. It cuts much deeper than that. It is about commemorating all those things that have their roots in the sand and soil of Anzac Cove.
It is about the tragedy, sacrifice and heartache, but it is also about mateship, lessons learnt, and reconciliation with former enemies. It cuts to a deeper significance that continues to echo around the cliffs of Anzac Cove to this day. But while we readily acknowledge the tragedy that Australians suffered in the campaign, victories are being played out as I speak—victories not for any one side that was involved in the conflict, but victories for our common humanity. These victories also have their roots in the sand and soil of Anzac Cove, and the unique relationship that was borne out of the terrible conflict that occurred between Turkish and Allied forces. As a result of what happened, the Turkish community and the Australian community now feel a close affinity with one another. The great Turkish leader Ataturk welcomed Australians who visited Turkey to remember their lost soldiers. He stated:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives …
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country …
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from faraway countries,
wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
It was the Turkish Government that initiated the move to have Anzac Cove declared a World Heritage site. It was also the Turkish Government that declared the area a national park in 1985, and, breaking from all convention and orthodoxy, allowed a foreign power to rename the area Anzac Cove. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about the Turkish community and the many ways in which they have involved themselves in my electorate and in the wider community. Unfortunately I do not have enough time to do them justice.
One example is the Gallipoli mosque in Auburn, whose name punctuates the community's commitment to remembering the lives that were lost in the campaign. The mosque's Harmony Day encourages people from all backgrounds, religions and nationalities to come together, celebrate and learn more about those things that we all share in common. The Turkish community has also taken steps to foster strong links with the RSL. I had the privilege of attending a function organised by the Turkish community and leaders to honour Rusty Priest after his retirement as President of the RSL. The Turkish Youth Association has established an initiative that seeks to place plaques in RSL clubs to honour all those who lost their lives, including Australian and Turkish troops. Only recently Sule College announced that it will send student representatives to Gallipoli next year. When I asked why, the principal, Sukan Alkin, simply replied:
This is about our combined history. About the friendship we share. About our shared culture.
Today I have given only a snapshot of the Turkish community's involvement in the wider community. Such communities are spearheading the creation of a stable, progressive and harmonious multicultural society. Even though I have referred primarily to the impact the Gallipoli campaign has had on nations like Turkey and Australia, its significance transcends international borders. It serves as a powerful reminder, a site of such moral significance, that it should be deemed worthy of World Heritage status. I commend the efforts of the Turkish Government to have the area listed as a World Heritage site. I also commend the efforts of the local Turkish community in fostering strong links with their adopted homeland. I commend the Premier for showing his leadership, initiative and commitment on this important issue, in not only remembering the lives that were lost in the Gallipoli campaign but also remembering the people of this State in whose hearts and minds the memories of the Anzacs continue to live on.
Mr STONER (Oxley—Leader of the National Party) [3.56 p.m.]: It is no surprise that the Turkish Government proposes a UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Gallipoli battlefield. Despite their long history, the Turks remember Gallipoli with a reverence similar to that of the Australian people. Gallipoli was the first mass conflagration in our history, and the way we stood by each other at that place became the mould to which generations of Australians continue to aspire. It forged on its muddied slopes and cliffs a tolerance of adversity that still permeates our society. It was the place where Australia, as part of the legendary Anzac force, established a reputation for courage, mateship and bravery in the face of almost impossible odds.
Only when we understand the rugged terrain, and the dense hedges at Gallipoli, do we realise how it ensnared our troops as they advanced, and the Turks, wherever they charged. That is why so many died so quickly on such a small peninsula. The most successful Turkish resistances were led by Colonel Mustafa Kemal, who was later known as Ataturk, the first President of the Turkish nation. Modern Turkey is a product of the tenacity it had to muster at Gallipoli to withstand the Anzac advances. The Anzacs came to develop a respect for their adversaries, as did the Turks for the Anzacs. This mutual respect is still alive today and is manifested by the World Heritage nomination of the site of their most fierce battle, a site where the incredible expressions of humanity sometimes cut above the din of war when the combatants ceased fire to bury their mutual dead, often alongside each other.
The most respected author on Gallipoli, Alan Moorehead, has recalled each battle of the campaign. Moorehead dispassionately notes the build-up of Turkish pride as its troops continued for months to resist allied advances, despite massive losses to their forces. Today, Turks are proud of their history but they selflessly share it with us on 25 April each year. Scores of our countrymen stand alongside them at dawn with the same sentiments of nationhood and sacrifice in their minds.
Increasingly, young people participate in this moment of solemn remembrance. Certainly, back here in Australia each Anzac Day, as the various sub-branches of the Returned Services League hold their remembrance services, they too recall the events of Anzac Cove. As the grandson of a member of the legendary Light Horse Brigade—Arthur Brown of Grafton, who fought for this country in World War I, though in France, not Gallipoli—I am proud to strongly support this motion. This State lost many bright young talents at Gallipoli, and we should reverently stand with Turkey in its call for UNESCO World Heritage listing for Gallipoli. The National Party is proud to support this motion.
Ms KENEALLY (Heffron) [4.00 p.m.]: I applaud the Premier's leadership on this issue. I support this motion for three reasons. First, the Turkish Government's move to secure World Heritage listing for Anzac Cove is one that many people in the electorate of Heffron will support; secondly, this is an appropriate way to honour the spirit of the Anzacs; and thirdly, this move by the Turkish Government will send a strong message of peace to a world that only too recently has been torn by war. On 1 June of this year I joined Maroubra, Matraville, Botany, Kensington and Mascot RSL members, along with members of the National Servicemen's Association of Australia, Eastern Suburbs Sub-branch, in a Memorial Day service honouring Australians who gave their lives in active duty in our armed services.
Reverend Dr Parker, President of the Eastern Suburbs Sub-branch, tells me that the Turkish Government's proposal is an excellent one. Dr Parker's grandfather served at Gallipoli, spending some months there on the evacuation, and then moved on to France. Dr Parker tells me that he wholeheartedly supports any move to recognise Anzac Cove as a World Heritage site, and he supports this move by the New South Wales Government to encourage that proposal. Likewise, the Secretary of the Botany RSL, Mr Les Haggert, has enthusiastically endorsed the Turkish Government's proposal to honour and memorialise all the Anzacs who died fighting at Gallipoli.
On Anzac Day I stood with members of the Botany RSL at its dawn service. Nearly 100 members of the Botany community got up early that morning and gathered together as a community—ordinary Australians, paying tribute to other ordinary Australians who performed with extraordinary courage and valour at Anzac Cove 88 years ago. The community in Botany, as well as communities across Heffron and undoubtedly across New South Wales, would welcome this gesture by the Turkish Government to honour and memorialise the young Australians who gave their lives at Gallipoli.
The proposal to accord Anzac Cove World Heritage listing is based on the moral value of the site, on the ability of former enemies to become friends. This is a most appropriate way to honour the spirit of the Anzacs. That Anzac spirit, which brings us together in parks and churches, community centres and RSL clubs across Australia every year, is not sentimental or backward-looking. It is community-building. The Anzac spirit has built up our local communities who celebrate Anzac Day every year. The Anzac spirit has built up our nation and given us a new pride in our service men and women who have served so ably in Gallipoli and in other areas of the world. And the Anzac spirit has forged special relationships across national boundaries, making friends out of former enemies, and creating a lasting bond between the people of Australia and the people of Turkey. Indeed, Anzac Cove is the only place where the Turkish Government has permitted a foreign power to give its name to a part of Turkey.
Each year in our community we see an increasing number of young people, spurred on by their studies—supported by the New South Wales Premier's History Teacher Gallipoli Scholarship—or by the ceremonies in their local communities, travelling to Anzac Cove to keep the Anzac spirit alive. Granting Anzac Cove World Heritage listing would only strengthen the bonds of friendship between Australia and Turkey, and cement them for future generations. Finally, granting World Heritage status to Anzac Cove would emphasise peace and peacemaking when so much of the world is in conflict.
Several members, including the honourable member for Auburn, today have read the inscription penned by President Ataturk in 1935—the inscription that stands at the gates of Gallipoli. That there can be such empathy between enemies, that there can be such acceptance of each other's suffering, serves as a powerful message that peace is possible, that friendship can arise out of enmity. If UNESCO granted World Heritage listing to Anzac Cove, it would send an important message about peacemaking between nations who were once at war. I can think of no greater message that UNESCO could send at this point in the global political situation. We have had far too many examples of war and aggression of late, and far too few of reconciliation and peacemaking. Granting World Heritage status sends a great signal to the world: that goodness, friendship and hope can follow even from the tragedy and sadness of war. For those three reasons, I wholeheartedly support the motion and urge the House to support the Turkish Government's proposal.
Mr APLIN (Albury) [4.05 p.m.]: I support the proposed nomination by the Turkish Government to UNESCO that the Gallipoli battlefield become a World Heritage listed site. Among the treasured possession in my bookcase at home is a book called The Kangaroo Marines. It was written by an English journalist and first published in 1916. He accompanied many of the troops to Anzac Cove. It is treasured because I bought it at a school fete at the age of 10. It recounts the recruitment, training and setting off from Sydney of many of those who were destined to fight at Anzac Cove. Of course, it traces the common theme that we retain and treasure today, that is, mateship.
Interestingly, I purchased this book overseas at a stage in my life when I knew little of the traditions of Anzac Day. But I made it my mission to read it many times. Every Anzac Day I pull out this precious old book and have a look through it. It captures the essence of what was truly the Anzac spirit then, and remains so today. We have heard before and in this debate of the courage and bravery exhibited by the Anzacs, but I want to concentrate most on the mateship aspect—the enduring side of Anzac Day, and something we celebrate here in Australia every day. Of course, I will concentrate also on the celebration of Anzac Day every year.
Mateship is a concept that I believe we should teach in our schools. As others have said, it brings us together, and it recognises a reconciliation between former enemies. Importantly, we all know of people who have travelled to the site and brought back stories about it. Every year, around Anzac Day, the newspapers tell us of the visits. It is interesting that up until some 20 years ago the site was poorly recognised in terms of facilities, signposts and roads. One friend recounted the difficulties in actually getting directions and finding the way to the pilgrimage site. I am glad that that will become easier for the many people who travel under the proposed listing.
Ataturk's words, which have been related by others who have spoken in this debate, stay with us to this day. We recall those words being spoken at Anzac Day services that we attend. Many of us attend the dawn services and speak at many services and functions throughout the day. This Anzac Day I, along with many others, attended the dawn service at the Albury War Memorial. John Stanborough, President of the Albury Sub-branch of the RSL, was the organiser of what was truly an amazing experience: as dawn breaks those gathered watch, in hushed silence, the sentinels on guard and listen as the ode is recited. It is interesting that the ode is now recited by school captains, demonstrating that the youth of today are becoming more and more involved in the history of their country. It is a poignant time. We look back at the times since 1915 and at the people who have handed down the legends and relive that legend by visiting the Anzac Cove site.
Many of us have relatives who have travelled to Gallipoli as part of that pilgrimage, because Australians and New Zealanders feel compelled to pay homage to the people who laid down their lives on that occasion, and to experience, as I said earlier, that aspect of mateship that was so common among the troops that served. I have a nephew who was a bugler at the eightieth Anzac Day commemoration service. We have friends who have made it a pilgrimage at times other than Anzac Day. I know that many Australians will do so, just as they travel to the battlefields of France. We would feel outraged if the site were considered for other purposes, just as we did when the French Government considered establishing an airport on the site of old battlefields. I support the proposed listing because it will preserve the area for all time. Many of our current generation and generations to come will feel secure in going to Gallipoli to visit the site and pay homage to the people who went before us.
Mr TRIPODI (Fairfield—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.10 p.m.]: I support the motion moved by the Premier to support the nomination by the Turkish Government to secure World Heritage listing of Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli battlefields. I am extremely pleased that the Turkish Government has sought to provide World Heritage listing for Anzac Cove because I know that news of the possible listing will bring great joy to many veterans in my electorate who served in the Australian military forces. Furthermore, I know that the motion will have the full support and encouragement of the many people of Turkish heritage who live in the Fairfield electorate and surrounding electorates. The heritage listing of Anzac Cove will have a huge significance to the people of both Australia and Turkey.
For the people of Turkey the Gallipoli campaign, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, marked Turkey's casting off of its Ancien regime and embracing the new ethos of modernity, as embodied in the form of its current secular republican ideal. For Australia, the historical value of Anzac Cove is of equal if not even greater significance. Gallipoli marks the spot where Australia, as a nation State, first expressed its identity. Gallipoli enabled the Australian people to finally hurl off the yoke of our colonial past and express, through a brave struggle, Australia's place among the kin of nations. While Gallipoli and the battle to take this strategic position may at first seem like a somewhat stillborn attempt at nationhood, history, the greatest judge of time and deed, has seen to it that the struggle of the Anzacs has not been in vain.
The brave struggle of our soldiers has moved on to embody a national identity, which, among other things, seeks to strive in the face of adversity, proffers support for the needy and pursues with dedication that which is right. Although many of our national politicians have tried to use and exploit the memory of Gallipoli by promoting an unchecked form of nationalism and patriotism under the guise of protecting our borders and territorial integrity, they have failed, precisely because of the generosity of spirit that has been engendered by the Anzac tradition: a generosity that is both Turkish and Australian, a generosity begun with Ataturk's gracious remarks as quoted by the Premier:
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.
Given the enormous significance of the Gallipoli campaign on our national identity, I commend the Premier on establishing a scholarship for teachers that will enable them to travel and appreciate all Anzac Cove has to offer. Hopefully, that scholarship will ensure that the study of Australian history and the origins of our national identity become key subjects for students studying history at high school. I recommend this important motion to the Chamber for support.
Mr PRINGLE (Hawkesbury) [4.13 p.m.]: Some 10 years go I was fortunate enough to stand on Anzac Cove. Like many members of this place, I was deeply moved by its spirituality. It is easy to think about that time so long ago when so many Australians were leaving the boats to come ashore and so many Australians scaled the incredibly steep cliffs. It is also easy to think about the Australians who lie in the graveyard at Lone Pine. Anzac Cove and Lone Pine are almost permanent parts of Australian soil. As previous speakers have said, this motion to support the UNESCO World Heritage listing is long overdue. I, too, commend the Turkish Government on its excellent initiative. It is extremely important that we protect that part of the world for future generations.
I am reminded of the difficulty of the task the Australian soldiers faced. We are reminded by the diorama in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra of the steepness of the cliffs and the enormity of the task. When we think back to the famous Australian movie Gallipoli, it is hard to believe in this day and age that Australians who left their families behind were prepared to accept the over-the-top order, get out of the trenches and face almost certain death. We remember also the naval involvement in the campaign—the Australian submarine AE2 breaking the deadlock and getting into the sea of Amara—as part of the overall strategy of the Allies to bring about peace at a fairly rapid rate.
The people of the Hawkesbury electorate are reminded of all the dawn services. We are also reminded of the impact of the Anzac campaign on each and every country town in Australia. We see the memorials and the names of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. We are also reminded of the importance of that sacrifice and the great loss suffered by most towns throughout Australia. Like other speakers, I have a link with the event: my grandfather served in World War I. His medals from the campaign are one of our treasured family mementos. The impact on him was long and lasting, just as it was on so many other families throughout Australia.
We also think of the overall cost of World War I to Australia. Some 60,000 people were killed—a huge number. The listing is long overdue; it is important as part of our national conscience. Gallipoli is a deeply spiritual place. Its preservation is important to our national conscience, as much as it was back in 1915. It is important to the New South Wales divisions, as well as those from other States, that served in Gallipoli. I strongly support the motion. I again congratulate the Turkish Government. The listing is as important for our national heritage as it is for the Turkish national heritage. The fact that we, as former enemies, are able to do this together is extremely significant. I commend the motion to the House and I again congratulate the Turkish Government.
Mr CRITTENDEN (Wyong) [4.17 p.m.]: It is great to hear the unanimity of purpose in the debate on this motion for urgent consideration. I also support the listing of Anzac Cove on the World Heritage list because of what the Turkish Government is calling its moral value. However, its cultural value would undoubtedly be the criterion under the listing guidelines. Many young Australians who landed at Anzac Cove and who fought so valiantly for eight months may have realised that they were near a place called Troy, where the heroic armies written about by Homer battled to the end centuries before. It is certainly true that, following the events of April 1915 in the Dardanelles, there was a great increase in that indefinable element called the Australian national character. That was important to the new Australian nation that was formed only 14 years before on 1 January 1901, as the Premier noted.
It is also important to realise that, although an upsurge in national character resulted from that event, it was not until the seventieth anniversary in 1985 of the landing at Anzac Cove in 1915 that there was a massive lift in the significance of the military event and an increasing desire to visit Anzac Cove by Australians. The seventieth anniversary was a precursor to the wonderful event that took place in 1990 in commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove. I am sure that all honourable members recall that the nation was high on the emotion of the occasion. I quote from a book written by Harvey Broadbent, The Boys Who Came Home—Recollections of Gallipoli, which was published by ABC Books:
One veteran, Jack McCleerry from Perth, a 'first-dayer', celebrated his 103rd birthday at the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove [in 1990]. Prime Minister Bob Hawke, as expected, choked 'we will remember them' at Lone Pine and called Anzac Cove 'a little piece of Australia' in a foreign land. Since 1990, Anzac Day at Gallipoli has become a magnet for thousands rather than hundreds of Antipodeans.
That is certainly the case. Respect for the occasion is increasing. It has certainly been important in our history, but it has only been since 1990 that there has been the tremendous surge of national participation in Anzac Day services and pilgrimages to the Dardanelles. It is, therefore, totally appropriate that the Turkish Government—I hope in collaboration with the Australian Government; I notice that the Department of Foreign Affairs is yet to make a statement on this matter—will push for World Heritage listing. Only 14 sites in Australia have World Heritage listing to recognise their natural beauty.
While it is important that sites be listed for their natural beauty, it is also important to recognise that few Australian sites also have a cultural dimension. Kakadu National Park and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park certainly fulfil the natural beauty and cultural criteria, but I believe, as Bob Hawke said, that Anzac Cove is a little piece of Australia on foreign soil and that it has become as important to Australians as it is to the Turkish people. The Premier has launched a campaign to create scholarships for history teachers in this State that will enable them to travel to Anzac Cove. It will be great for history teachers in this State to visit Anzac Cove and, as the Premier hopes, produce educational materials on their return. Certainly people such as Harvey Broadbent, who has travelled to the site 15 times, have been affected by the event. He has had this to say:
Although it is not depressing, it is a melancholy and sobering experience to make this visit. I have felt affected by the place—the strangeness of the landscape, the stark beauty and hostile undercurrent. The yellow craggy rock outcrops and ravines mixed with the soft greens, rusts and violets of the scrub and the herbs are all the stuff of landscape paintings, but try and traverse it on foot and your body is attacked by pain-injecting gorse and prickle. The heat of the day saps your strength and the dust parches your throat.
I hope that are on their return from Anzac Cove, the history teachers will recall their visits in great detail in the material they produce for dissemination in schools.
Mr ROBERTS (Lane Cove) [4.22 p.m.]: I support the proposed nomination by the Turkish Government of the Gallipoli battlefield for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage listing. I commend the Turkish Government and the Turkish people on taking this important initiative. I can think of a no more appropriate tribute to the brave spirit of Anzac by the people of Australia and the people of Turkey than the strong ties that bind us today. John Masefield, Poet Laureate, stated not long after the war in the preface in a book on Gallipoli:
England should think well of this country [Australia], whose tongue she speaks and whose sense of liberty she shares.
This seems to be a wandering from the dead in Gallipoli, in their graves among the tamarisks; but it is not so. Wherever they lie, they call, in their mute way, to all the world to think well of this country; for they were free men who gave their lives for an idea. They lie quiet, and are done with trouble. "It is very lonely there" a man writes to me; "hardly even a goatherd goes there". There are forty thousand of them: the manhood of a city, twenty-eight thousand British, eight and a half thousand Australian and three and a half thousand New Zealand soldiers.
Eight years ago they were the pick of a race that cares for freedom, coming as the freight of fifty ships, to fight things stronger than themselves. As the ships moved out to take them to their graves, even in the months when victory was no longer thought of, those soldiers cheered.
It is appropriate that I place on the record of this House the speech made by the Hon. John Howard, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia at the Dawn Service, at Gallipoli, on 25 April 2000:
To this ancient land the passing of 85 years must seem but an instant in time. A mere moment in its journey towards forever. But to us it is the distance of human life. Thus we come to this place at this hour on this day to observe not only a dawn but a dusk. For dusk has all but fallen on that great hearted generation of Australians who fought here. The shadows gather on a time and a world in which our nation's spirit was born. Soon the story of ANZAC which forever joins the people of Australia and New Zealand will pass gently from memory into history. Soon the fire struck here will be ours to tend. Soon its record once written on pages wet with tears will be ours alone to guard, ours to cherish, ours to live.
It is a remarkable legacy. Only now from the sheltered safety of our time can we comprehend what was dared and done here. Only now from the vantage point secured for us by others' lives can we see the scale and the scope of their achievement … The inheritance we claim today is not a fallen sword, nor have we come to extol a warrior's code. The respect of gallant foes and the high regard of comrades is the praise that soldiers seek. It is not for us to give. Let them rest, far from thoughts of battle. Instead we come to claim from them, a heritage of personal courage and initiative. Of daring and determination in the face of overwhelming odds. A heritage that requires of each of us a conscious decision to do what is right regardless of the resistance we meet or the fears we hold.
We come to seek the inspiration of stories of compassion and comfort given to others in their time of need. Knowing that there are opportunities in our own lives to ease the burden of those suffering adversity and hardship. We come to draw upon their stirring example of unity and common purpose. To believe that whatever our differing circumstances, we are all companions with each of our countrymen and women, and together we travel a single path. We come to join with those that rest here in a shared love of our nation, bathed in sunlight and so blessed with bounty. We come to stand on soil rich with the lives of our kin and vow that what they began, we will finish.
For they fought to build a nation which would stand proud and respected and amongst the free people of the world. A nation where ordinary men and women would live long lives of happiness and fulfilment. A country where children would grow nourished by the land's harvest, and by the love of their parents. A country where prosperity and opportunity are derived not by birth, but by endeavour. A people made independent united and free for all time. And in the attainment of these ideals, in the keeping of a decent and responsible Australia, in every year of peace between the nations of the world, we will build for all those who have served and suffered in war, a monument upon which evening will never fall.
How appropriate is our coming together and how wonderful is the Turkish Government, our friend, to obtain World Heritage listing for this wonderful and sacred site. I will conclude with words from John Masefield:
They came from safety of their own free will
To lay their young men's beauty, strong men's powers,
Under the hard roots of the foreign flowers,
Having beheld the Narrows from the Hill.
I commend the motion to the House.
Mr WHAN (Monaro) [4.27 p.m.]: It is a great pleasure to support the motion moved by the Premier and to endorse his remarks when thanking the Turkish Government for proposing a listing of Anzac Cove on the World Heritage Register. Anzac Cove occupies a special place in the Australian psyche. It is a wonderful initiative on the part of the Turkish Government to nominate this area of Gallipoli. World Heritage listing is reserved for sites that have global significance as natural or cultural sites. That list currently contains 730 sites, 563 of which are cultural, 144 of which are natural, and 23 of which are mixed. As I browsed through the list of sites, I did not notice any that were battlefields. The listed site that comes closest to dealing with war and the after-effects of war is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The memorial's web site states:
Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.
The listing of Anzac Cove serves as a similar reminder. If the nomination is successful, the listing will remind us not only about the sacrifices made in the battle of Anzac Cove but also about the folly and cost of war so that, hopefully, many generations for hundreds of years to come will work hard to avoid war. As I said, few of the World Heritage listings are battlefields. The proposal by the Turkish Government is a sign of how important Anzac Cove is not only to Australia but also to Turkey, a continent that has many historical battlefields. All Australians would be honoured by the listing of Anzac Cove on the World Heritage Register. Such a listing would show that the significance of Anzac Cove goes well beyond Australia and takes on a global perspective. Anzac symbolises an Australian spirit that has been summed up by many speakers today through quotations. Charles Bean, a war historian, served at Anzac Cove. He did a lot of his writing from the Tuggeranong Homestead, which is in the Australian Capital Territory but near the Monaro electorate. He wrote:
By dawn on December 20th ANZAC had faded into a dim blue line lost amid other hills on the horizon as the ships took their human freight to Imbros, Lemnos and Egypt. But ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat.
That Anzac spirit has been so strong that it has transcended 88 years of history and development in Australia. It has transcended a massive change to Australia's make-up to characterise the way Australians back up each other and work together. We saw that spirit in the Monaro region during the January bushfires when neighbours, mates and people who did not know each other supported each other and helped defend lives and property. We often see that spirit during a crisis. That spirit has been handed down through generations. We value that spirit, which has been handed down to our kids through their Anzac studies at school. In my local area, as in every area in New South Wales, our fifth-graders do projects on Anzac.
Although I am not supposed to bring props into the Chamber, I have with me an Anzac project my son did this year in fifth class. Through that project he has learnt about the work of Simpson and his donkey, the sacrifice of the people at Anzac Cove, the awarding of medals for valour, and the acts of bravery by people who were awarded the Victoria Cross medal. With the consent of the House, I lay upon the table my son's project. Honourable members can look at it if they so wish. My son and his school colleagues have learnt to understand the significance of the sacrifice, the bravery of those who fought at Gallipoli, and the spirit that those who came back safe and sound brought with them. Importantly, they also learned about the costs of war. It is important that children learn about Anzac. That is why this motion is so important. [Time expired.]
Motion agreed to.