UN Peacekeepers’ Ceremony and People’s March 2024

Delivered on behalf of Her Excellency by Honorary Aide-de-Camp Flight Lieutenant Adam Lo OAM 

On behalf of all Queenslanders, I am honoured to have this opportunity to express my gratitude, on behalf of all Queenslanders, for the contribution to international peace that our defence force, police personnel and civilians have made since 1947.

It has been a constant, unwavering contribution, with our men and women serving somewhere in the world under the blue flag of the United Nations in every one of the past 77 years.

Since the very first deployment in what is now Indonesia, Australians have been a presence for almost 75 years on the Korean peninsula and were active for more than half a century in Cyprus. More recently, and closer to home, they have played a leadership role in major multinational peacekeeping missions in the Solomon Islands and Bougainville, and today, somewhere in the world, there are Australian peacekeepers, playing their part.

The word ‘peacekeeping’ is deceptive because it implies that peace already exists and needs only to be preserved. The reality, demonstrated repeatedly, is that peacekeepers are often called upon to act in dangerous situations and put their lives at risk. As a consequence, some of the 65,000 Australians who have served as peacekeepers have been killed or injured and many have suffered trauma. Today’s march and ceremony honour that sacrifice, and I thank the Queensland Division of the United Nations Association of Australia for their continued commitment to this important annual commemoration.

As centuries of conflict have demonstrated, peace is not easily achieved. It involves a long, slow process of addressing the root causes of conflict and building secure foundations for stable, inclusive societies. As former US President, John F. Kennedy, said in his 1963 speech to the United Nations: “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”

This is what Australia’s peacekeepers, uniformed and civilian, have now been doing for 77 years. As the International Day of UN Peacekeepers approaches, let us all remember and thank them.