QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. Brave soldier Sean McCarthy was killed by a roadside bomb in Uruzgan province in July 2008. Following his death, Signaller McCarthy's parents, David and Mary, attended ramp ceremonies at Al Minhad Air Base so fallen Australians would not begin their journey home without family present.

Inexplicably, David and Mary were not invited to Sunday's Afghanistan commemoration at the Australian War Memorial, but Sean was invited, 18 years after his tragic death. How did the minister get this so horribly wrong?