Mr McCLELLAND (Barton) (4.40 p.m.) —I also join in support of the Prime Minister's motion on the Indian Ocean tsunami. On the point raised by the Treasurer, on Australia Day when speaking to a gathering of new Australians at a commemoration of their citizenship I mentioned that never before had I personally been more proud to be an Australian or more proud of Australian citizens than I was in response to the relief effort by the Australian government and the Australian people to the victims of the tsunami. My words were met with simultaneous applause, the loudest of which came from the newest of Australians. It was not my words that were applauded but rather the effort of the Australian people and their government, which must be recognised. There is no doubt that we were more quickly on the ground than any other nation and we gave more per head of population than any other nation in the world. That indeed is something that we can be tremendously proud of.
The shadow minister for foreign affairs mentioned the work of our Defence men and women, our police—not only Federal Police but state police forces—our volunteer agencies and our public servants. Since taking on the position of shadow minister for defence, I must say I gain every day in my appreciation and respect for the work of our service men and women. In parliament, if we do something that we think is half meritorious, we tend to issue a press release seeking plaudits from all and sundry. They undertake acts which are truly heroic and truly life saving without any of those plaudits. If we lived in the conditions they lived in, let alone undertook the tasks they undertake, we would need counselling.
In that respect the police officers attached to the Disaster Victim Identification Unit—as I mentioned, not only Federal Police officers but also those provided by the states as well as supporting medical personnel—really must be recognised. The pressure and trials of that work are such that the workers are rotated over a matter of weeks as opposed to months. I understand that, tragically, so many of the victims they are required to identify are children, who bore the disproportionate brunt of casualties given their reduced ability to get to safety. It must be really demanding work, and our appreciation goes out to them. What they do and the trauma that they suffer assists so many families to obtain closure and to know that their family member or loved one has been treated with dignity. We cannot underestimate the tremendous work that they are undertaking.
So much has been said on the tsunami, and I can only join with those words, but I seek to make some brief comments about Australian Protective Service officer Adam Dunning and Flight Lieutenant Paul Martin Pardoel. I join with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in their comments earlier. Three days before Christmas I was invited by the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Ellison, to join him in travelling to the Solomon Islands. I place on the record of the Australian parliament that we can be proud of the way he fulfilled his responsibilities in leading that delegation. We ultimately brought back Adam Dunning's body. Senator Ellison conducted himself with dignity and was very warm in expressing his compassion and that of the Australian people to Adam Dunning's family. I can only congratulate him on that. [start page 39]
Senator Ellison generously invited me to address a funeral service held for Adam in the Solomon Islands. We paid our respects and recognised the tremendous work not only of our policemen and policewomen, our Defence Force representatives and Australian Protective Service officers but also of supporting nations, who joined us in expressing their grief. I think it was reported in some papers that the choir of the island representatives, RAMSI, the regional assistance mission, was truly moving.
Comments have been made about the fact that Adam was awarded a commendation for his bravery in disarming a young man with a replica pistol in circumstances where Adam would have been justified, for his own safety, in discharging his firearm. The fact that he did not is one of the reasons that we as a mission have so much respect from the Solomon Islands government and the people of the Solomon Islands for the way Australian servicemen and servicewomen and Federal Police and Protective Service officers have conducted themselves. This really was a courageous act. We were advised that Adam was an expert kickboxer and, again going beyond the call of duty, he himself conducted voluntary martial arts classes for the youth of the Solomon Islands to try to give them that sense of dignity and self-respect that he had.
In expressing our condolences to Adam's family and his fiancee, I also voice our tremendous respect for them. When Adam's body was both being delivered to the aircraft and being removed from it by his colleagues and his workmates, they were very moved by the occasions. The Dunning family made a point, despite their grief, of personally thanking those officers for what they did. To his mum, Christine, his dad, Mike, his two sisters, Sarah and Emma, and his fiancee, Elise Wiscombe, we express our appreciation for Adam's life and our sorrow.
I obviously did not have personal involvement with Flight Lieutenant Paul Martin Pardoel, but he was a dedicated member of not only the Royal Australian Air Force but also the Royal Air Force. He fulfilled his professional duties with great distinction and was noted for his generosity, his patience and his general Australian attitude of being respectful in his role as a trainer of navigators coming through the Air Force. Again, the opposition wishes to join in expressing to his father, John, his mother, Margaret, his wife, Kellie, and their children, Jordan, Jackson and India, our great sorrow. We recognise his contribution as well as the contribution of family members and the contribution of the families of our defence forces, who have to put up with great sacrifices so that the tremendous work of our Defence Force men and women, our police officers and our Protective Service personnel can be undertaken.