RSL South Eastern District’s 79th Anniversary of the Victory in the Pacific Commemoration Service

Representing the Leader of the Opposition, Member for Southern Downs, Mr James Lister MP; Commander, 8^th Brigade Australian Army, Brigadier Arran Hassell CSC; Representing the Commanding Officer of HMAS Moreton, Commodore Anthony Holley; Senior Australian Defence Force Officer, Combat Support Group, Group Captain Dennis Tan;  Returned Services League Queensland State President, Major General Stephen Day DSC AM; Representing the Queensland Police Service, Acting Inspector Stephen Watkins; Chairperson of the ANZAC Day Parade Brisbane Committee, Mr Kerry Gallagher AM; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. 

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people here today.

It is with heavy but hopeful hearts that we gather this morning to commemorate the 79^th anniversary of the victory in the Pacific.

The struggle to overcome enemy forces and claim victory in this theatre during World War Two is etched in the national memory.

Nearly six years of conflict had deeply divided the nation of Australia. The war had taken a heavy toll, with 39,655 Australians losing their lives due to military service. However, victory allowed our country, along with our allied nations, to finally put aside their weapons.

The Australian Prime Minister, Ben Chifley, announced the end of hostilities against Japan, and Australians everywhere rejoiced in the news. The weight and shadow of those dark years began to lift, making way for a new light.

Queensland was among those Australian states in closest proximity to the devastating action being undertaken in the Pacific and had come under direct aerial attack from the Japanese. Such action brought the war uncomfortably close, and the debt of gratitude owed to those Queenslanders who defended home and hearth remains palpable in our community, seen in the huge turnouts each ANZAC Day.

What followed the announcement of victory in the Pacific for our national and state leaders was the need to devise and implement a plan of action that would honour the contributions made by our defence forces and create agency for our returned soldiers.

Demobilisation, and repatriation in the form of pensions and housing were high on the agenda in the initial days and months after the Japanese surrender.

So too, was the Returned Services League of Australia.

Formed in 1916, it continued to provide a ‘unified approach to the organisation of repatriation facilities and medical services’ for those returning from war.

The League’s ongoing support of — and involvement in — the lives of our service personnel over the course of these many, many decades is outstanding indeed, and as Joint Patrons of the RSL in Queensland, Graeme and I are incredibly proud of the work that you do.

Hope looms large in the makeup of the human psyche, and it is with hope that we go forward today.

Mr Chifley articulated the national hope that we ‘may look forward to a peace which they have won for us’, and while that enduring peace has not materialised, we continue to put our faith and our hope in the belief that it can.

We will never disregard or overlook those ‘against whose sacrifice for us there is no comparison’, nor will we step away from the hope that further world conflicts can be mitigated.

To those whose service led to victory in the Pacific, and to the loved ones they left behind, we honour you today.

Lest We Forget.