Thursday, 16 November 2023

 Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:49): I want to commend the membership of the Box Hill South sub-branch of the RSL for a beautiful service the other day on Remembrance Day. I have visited Box Hill Gardens and the cenotaph there for numerous services – sometimes with you, President – and as you would know, John, Arthur and the rest of the committee do a fabulous job to bring to life in an engaging yet sombre and appropriate way so many of these really important days.

Of course in Australia Anzac Day is a day that probably looms larger in the consciousness of the Victorian people and the Australian people, but Remembrance Day is also really important. It brings to mind the extraordinary sacrifice of former generations, the respect that we should have for that sacrifice, leading to our current freedoms, and the respect that we should have for the ongoing service of so many people. At the same time, I think, especially Remembrance Day brings to mind the fruitlessness of most conflicts. For many years I taught the causes of the First World War. There was something about great power rivalry. The Balkans were a powder keg, as normal. Rigid systems of alliances did not help. But I honestly could not tell you why that conflict started or what it did to further humanity, except I suppose to set the conditions for the Second World War. So war is complex, and I think dealing with that complexity and thinking through that complexity on days like Remembrance Day are important. The Box Hill sub-branch of the RSL helped people in our electorate do that quite brilliantly on the weekend.