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Student Representative Address by Georgina Fraser at the Western Australian Ex Prisoners of War, Kings Park Memorial Service, 15th June, 2007. On behalf of the student body of Mount Lawley Senior High School, I would like to thank our Western Australian ex Prisoners of War for the opportunity that has been afforded us - in being entrusted with the custodianship of this Annual Memorial event. As people in our teenage years we are constantly engaged in finding our way from childhood to adulthood. Our emerging sense of purpose and identity is directly related to the experiences we have; and, our Ex Prisoners of War have gifted us, as a School Community, with a unique opportunity to engage with the broader community through these, our custodial activities. The preparation, attendance and reflection activities support our endeavors to better understand this world, our place in it and what challenges people have needed to be able to undertake, and see through, in order to secure their and our futures. At the Anzac Day Dawn Service held at Gallipoli this year, our Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson, said, in part - "With awkward humility, we pause here at Gallipoli, free and confident heirs to a legacy born of idealism and forged in self-sacrifice. We do so in renewed commitment to one another, our Nation and the ideals of humankind. To understand what happened here, to feel a connection with this place, is to be fully Australian. They forged values that are ours and make us who we are, reminding us that there are some truths by which we live, that are worth defending". As we gather here today at Kings Park, I commend to you the spirit of Minister Nelson's words. I believe that we also are gathered here free and confident. We are indeed heirs to a legacy; but to a legacy that has consolidated and grown considerably in substance since those sad and terrible days of Gallipoli. In the period between the Wars we learnt, as a Nation, of the debt and duty of care we owed to the indirect victims of war - widows and orphans. It makes me feel enriched to know that as Australians we did not rely on the distant touch of Government support alone, to address these obligations. The formation and enduring presence of Legacy was, and has remained, a direct initiative of ordinary everyday Australians from within their own communities. As World War II drew to a close we became, as a Nation, only too aware of another of the horrible aspects of modern warfare - Prisoners of War. To these people, and their families and loved ones, fell a terrible burden. Even today, at a great distance, this burden delivers a chilling and dark spectre of the less worthy aspects of our human natures. It is beyond the current comprehension of many of my generation to image our ultimate civil society sanction, incarceration - the total removal of personal freedom and control - as it would have been experienced in war time conditions and far from the familiarity of one's land, customs, family and friends. What we can do, and reaffirm to do at times such as this, is to ensure that we put aside the busyness of our daily lives, gather together and devote our time and attention to remembering, valuing and honouring the hardships and sacrifices of those who bore those burdens on our behalf. Winston Churchill has been quoted as saying - "the further back you look, the further forward you can see". I think he might have also agreed that - "the more effort you put into remembering, the more resilient your belief in the future will become". In striving to remember and honour the sacrifices and suffering of those who took up arms to defend our freedom, and in so doing lost theirs, we are not only being respectful and dutiful. I believe we are strengthening our shared commitment to those enduring core Australian values that they championed. This in turn leads us to a more insightful understanding of how worthy and meaningful their sacrifices truly were. Thank you for your attention. Lest We Forget. Georgina Fraser Head Girl Mount Lawley Senior High School |