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Mr STEVEN PRINGLE (Hawkesbury) [4.42 p.m.]: Today is Remembrance Day when we reflect on the sacrifices of the men and women of our armed services over a number of generations. It is a particularly apt time to focus on a significant gap in the commemoration of the efforts of Air Force personnel in World War II. This gap centres around the Australian Beaufighter units—"whispering death" to the Japanese—which were critical to the defence of Australia in the dark days of 1942 and 1943. The Beaufighter has the most significant history in the Pacific theatre of operations in World War II. First acquired directly from the United Kingdom, the aircraft was utilised in March 1943 when the unit participated, to deadly effect, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. The Battle of the Bismarck Sea ended Japanese plans for the invasion or total isolation of Australia. Beaufighter units went on supporting the Army and ground operations for the rest of the war, right up to the landings at Labuan. Its crews exhibited the highest degree of courage and devotion to duty in the strafing and bombing of Japanese positions, airfields and harbours. Its ground crews made a major contribution as they maintained the aircraft in extremely difficult and arduous conditions.
That is not the whole story. Before World War II Australia did not have an aircraft industry. The United States of America and Britain, our major allies, supplied all our aircraft equipment before the war, but were unable to continue to do so. Australia needed to have its own aircraft industry. Several aircraft designs were selected to be built in Australia. One of these was the Beaufighter. Plans were purchased from the United Kingdom in the form of an amazing 16,000 microphotographs. These were developed into blueprints and the aircraft was constructed using about 500 subcontractors and seven major factories. The first Australian-built aircraft rolled off the production line and was test flown only 14 months after the photographs were received. That is an amazing achievement.
In New South Wales our own railway workshops at Chullora did their bit for the war effort. They built the front fuselage section, the stern frame and the engine nacelles. Victorian and South Australian workshops built the rest. Assembly was done at Mascot and Fishermens Bend in Melbourne. Test flying was carried out at Bankstown airport. The aircraft was produced in Australia at a rate of about one per day, believe it or not, and also included spares. The cost was directly comparable to the imported versions. There are at least three remaining Beaufighter aircraft in Australia. One of them, A8-328, is held at the Australian Air Museum at Moorabbin in Victoria. The second, A8-186, lives close by at Camden. Both of these are Australian-built versions.
The third, A19-144, is in the hands of the Royal Australian Air Force at Point Cook in Victoria. This aircraft saw operational service with the No. 31 squadron but came to an unfortunate end in October 1943. It was reduced to components but survived the disaster and, indeed, the war and is still in a recognisable form. After the war virtually all Beaufighter aircraft ended up as scrap metal. The Beaufighter aircraft is a recognisable memorial to the Australians who built it, those who flew it, those who maintained it and, most importantly, those who fought in it when our nation's future was in doubt.
We owe the Beaufighter pilots, ground crew and maintenance personnel a permanent memorial, which should be located at the Australian War Memorial. I urge all members to support this project. I particularly commend Air Commodore Stanley Clark of the Royal Australian Air Force Association, an important Hawkesbury community leader, for his effort to date. I also commend Fred Cassidy, the President of the No. 30 Squadron Association, now a part of the 30 Squadron Branch of the Royal Australian Air Force Association, and all his colleagues. Australia owes a great debt to the men and women associated with the Royal Australian Air Force Beaufighter units. It is time their dedication and duty received a lasting memorial, and that memorial belongs at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.