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- 4 September 2002
World War Ii Commemoration Day
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The Hon. CHARLIE LYNN [9.34 p.m.]: Tonight I support the call by the Federal Labor Leader, Simon Crean, for a Battle for Australia Day as an annual commemoration of the defence of our nation during World War II. I also support Mr Crean's call for national debate on the issue. I would argue against the notion that it be called Kokoda Day because I think it would provide too narrow a focus on the spirit of the commemoration. Kokoda was certainly a defining moment for us. It was during this campaign that the Japanese thrust towards Port Moresby was finally turned. Australia was finally spared from the threat of invasion when the Japanese received their orders to withdraw from their positions on Iorabaiwa Ridge to a beachhead at Buna and Gona.
Kokoda has certainly been a neglected shrine for the past 60 years. However, the recent opening of the Isurava Memorial and the commitment by the Sydney Swans to dedicate a match at Stadium Australia to the spirit of Kokoda will ensure that the campaign is finally honoured in an appropriate manner. Prior to July 1942 there were many battles in the air and on the sea before the Japanese established a beachhead at Buna and Gona in preparation for their advance over the Owen Stanley Range towards Port Moresby. I refer to the great naval battles of Coral Sea and Midway.
The desperate air-sea-land battle of Milne Bay was fought at the same time the Japanese launched their attack at Isurava as part of their strategy to capture Port Moresby. But it was at Milne Bay that the hitherto undefeated Japanese forces suffered their first defeat of World War II. In the islands of the South West Pacific and throughout the north-western area of New Guinea our commandos were in action and our coastwatchers were risking their lives reporting Japanese air and sea movements.
After Kokoda and Milne Bay there were battles at Lae, Sanananda, Finchafen and many other places as our soldiers, sailors and airmen fought to drive the Japanese from our shores. All these brave hearts, these gallant servicemen and servicewomen, made significant contributions to our eventual victory on 15 August 1945, when Japan finally surrendered. A Battle for Australia Day would, therefore, be a more appropriate title because it recognises all those who served-the front-line troops, the coastwatchers, the logistic and administrative support personnel, the doctors and nurses, the home guard, the cooks, the bottle-washers, the toothless and the ruthless-all heroes in their own way.
Such a day is important for our national psyche because it will cause us to stop and reflect on the legacy left to us-our freedom! It will help create an awareness of our military history, which will hopefully become a compulsory part of our primary and secondary educational curriculum. Patrick Lindsay, author of The Spirit of Kokoda-Then and Now referred to the words of a World War II veteran, William Manchester, who wrote:
Those of us who fought in the Pacific believed we would be remembered, that schoolchildren would be told of our sacrifices and taught the names of our greatest battles. But we didn't anticipate the velocity of post-war history; didn't realise that events would succeed one another more and more rapidly, in a kind of geometric progression, swamping the recent past in an endless flood of sensationalism; didn't know that instant celebrities would glitter blindingly and then disappear overnight.
Lindsay went on to write:
Six decades have now passed since the Diggers endured their Cavalry on "The Bloody Track". It's about time we gave them the honour and respect they earned with their blood for our sake. In doing so we, too, will benefit. I have read many books seeking inspiration. I've seen many wonderful films and documentaries. Each of them quoted magnificent examples of heroes, great and small.
We need not seek so far; the inspiration is close at hand. When I need motivation or the strength to overcome obstacles, I think of the men of Kokoda. Their spirit is contagious. It is timeless.
A few days ago I spoke with a senior Papua New Guinea Government Minister who expressed concern that our two countries had grown apart and did not fully understand each other. He felt that the initiative by the Sydney Swans to honour the sixtieth anniversary of the Kokoda campaign with a match at Stadium Australia was a very positive step because it provides an opportunity for us to bond. I thought they were great words, because we are brothers. We are geographical neighbours, and always will be.
We have a shared history and a shared adversity. We are both endowed with great natural wealth. We have rich and exciting indigenous cultures. We are blessed with unlimited opportunity as Pacific Rim nations. But we also have a great debt to our Australian and Papua New Guinea veterans who put their lives on the line in defence of the freedom we enjoy today. We must never forget this, and a national Battle for Australia Day commemoration will provide an opportunity for us to pause, reflect, and pay tribute to those who made it possible. I commend Simon Crean's initiative to this House.
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