War Widows Day
Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (19:05): (563) My adjournment tonight is to the Minister for Veterans, and the action I seek as the Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs is for this state to recognise 19 October as War Widows Day. We have over 38,000 war widows in Australia, and in recent years there has been a push to have this day recognised nationally across all jurisdictions. The inaugural War Widows Day was held in Queensland and New South Wales on 19 October in 2022, and last year the ACT, Western Australia and South Australia all came on board and recognised this date as War Widows Day. They were supported by their respective state and territory governments. It is not recognised in Victoria, the Northern Territory or Tasmania as yet, and that is what I would seek to change. One of the reasons that Victoria and Tasmania do not recognise this day as yet is because branches of the Australian War Widows are not operational in these states, but moves are currently afoot to address this. National president Jenny Gregory, who I have spoken with a few times over the last few weeks, has said that observance of this day would assist in establishing this network in Victoria. War Widows Day provides a focus for our community on the sacrifice of widows whose loved ones gave their lives for our country and on their role in supporting their families and supporting the communities at home while their partners were fighting for our nation. So I ask the minister to work with me as shadow veterans minister and Jenny as the national president to observe this day on 19 October this year, and on that date every subsequent year.