Page 5084 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 26 October 2010
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On Saturday, I had the honour of attending, at the Korean War memorial on Anzac Avenue, the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the commencement of the Korean War. It was attended by, amongst others, the Governor-General, the Chief of Army, the Korean ambassador and Keith Payne VC.
As I mentioned earlier in the MPI, Korea is very much the forgotten war. People tend to remember World War II and Vietnam and other conflicts, but Korea was a very significant war for Australia. Nearly 350 Australians lost their lives, predominantly from the army and predominantly from the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, which was there at the outset and fought all the way through but which was also joined in the later stages of the conflict by the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment.
The Air Force also played a significant role, led by the 77th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Navy also played a significant role. An Air Force carrier group was deployed at one stage, the only time in Australia’s history that has occurred. The Navy played a significant role in a number of actions.
It was a great event on Saturday. It was very well attended by veterans and was, again, a very well-organised event. It seems that many of these events for veterans are organised by a small group of people that do an amazing amount of work in organising them. I would like to pass on my thanks in this case to Christine Coulthard, Jan Properjohn and Colin Kahn.
Also I would like to note that the chief executive of TAMS, Mr Gary Byles, who is an ex-serviceman, was there representing the Chief Minister. It was great to see him there representing the government.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
The Assembly adjourned at 6.09 pm.
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