Gillard, Julia, MP

Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:00): I move: That the House records its deep regret at the deaths of Lance Corporal Andrew Gordon Jones and Lieutenant Marcus Sean Case on 30 May 2011 while on operations in Afghanistan, and place on record its appreciation of their service to the country and tender its profound sympathy to their families in their bereavement. The House and the nation shared the sorrow and the pride yesterday of two Australian families and we continue today to share that sorrow and that pride. Andrew Jones was killed on 30 May while serving on operations in Afghanistan. He was from the 9th Force Support Battalion and was serving with Force Support Unit 4 in the Chora Valley. He was an Army cook by trade, an Australian soldier by profession, on duty in uniform the day he died. He was 25 years old. Marcus Case was killed on the same day in a separate incident. Marcus was a member of the Sydney based 6th Aviation Regiment. He began his training as a reservist, deferred his university studies to serve in the Army full time, trained as a commando and was deployed to East Timor. Marcus then trained as a pilot and had deployed to Afghanistan as a Heron unmarked aerial vehicle operator. On Monday he was taking part in a resupply sortie in southern Afghanistan when the helicopter he was in crashed. He was 27 years old. The Chief of the Defence Force, the Minister for Defence, members of this parliament and I have all spoken, yesterday and today, to express our nation's grief and our resolve of the loss we feel of two good, young men gone and the determination we share as a nation to see the mission through. Today the Jones family and the Case family have spoken beautifully as well in their statements and in sharing their sorrow. I want to share with the House some of what they, the families, have said. The words of Andrew Jones's family speak volumes to me and I am sure to all of us. The family said: Andrew was a dependable, very cheeky character who we will miss with all our hearts. We believe Andrew was very, very happy serving with his friends, doing the job he loved. We would like to especially thank those that helped Andrew in his last hours. We know you did your best to save him and continue to face the big job ahead of you while also dealing with his death. The words of Marcus's family too will remain with me for a long time and with all of us. They said: Marcus was born to fly. His favourite comment was 'Are you ready for this?' before performing some acrobatics to demonstrate his incredible skills. Marcus will be sorely missed by his loving and very proud family as well as by his large group of supportive friends. He was an idol to his niece and nephews who, upon seeing a helicopter, would point at it and gleefully say, 'There goes Marcus.' Marcus and Andrew were professionals, trained to serve, ready for a day like this. These days are very hard, but we owe it to Marcus and Andrew and their mates to be ready too. It is in our nation's interests to continue our deployment in Afghanistan, to make sure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorists, to stand firmly by our ally the United States. Transition will take time. We must not transition out only to transition back in. We must not leave a security vacuum which terrorists who threaten us would fill. Australia will see the mission through in Afghanistan. Today, we share the sorrow of the Jones and Case families. We cannot truly share their suffering, but today I want the Jones family and the Case family to know this: you are not alone. You are Australians—you are never alone—and the sacrifice your boys have made will not be forgotten.