STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (13:44): This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Kojonup Memorial Hall, which was built in 1926 by the local community to honour those who served and sacrificed in the First World War. A century later, the community has gathered again to ensure that no-one is forgotten. Fourteen servicemen whose names had been missing from the memorial have now been added to its honour roll.

Local historian Robert Sexton helped identify those men, whose omission may have resulted from poor communications or their families having left the district. Around 70 men from Kojonup lost their lives across the two world wars, an enormous sacrifice for a small farming community in Western Australia. Many of those recently added to the memorial were killed in action and have no known grave.

As Kojonup shire president Roger Bilney observed, adding their names to the hall is in a sense a homecoming. I was particularly struck by the words of 99-year-old Kojonup resident and former shire president Arnold Bilney, who said, 'Your future is controlled by your past.' There is great wisdom in those words. War memorials are more than stone, marble and names.

They connect generations and ensure sacrifice is not diminished by the passage of time. One hundred years after the Kojonup Memorial Hall was built, 14 servicemen have finally taken their rightful place alongside their mates. Their names are home, their service is honoured and they will be remembered.

Lest we forget.