Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the importance of providing due recognition to those who served in World War I and that The Headstone Project gives that recognition, respect and a sense of closure to World War I veterans' families;

(b) calls on the Malinauskas Labor government to support our fallen soldiers and provide funding to The Headstone Project at the requested amount of $75,000 guaranteed for three years; and

(c) calls on the Malinauskas Labor government to petition the Albanese federal government to reverse its previous decision and agree to grant The Headstone Project S.A. 'Deductible Gift Recipient' status.

I note that, if we are elected in 2026, we will commit to funding The Headstone Project South Australia at a cost of $75,000 per year for three years. As background in regard to this vital project, in 2010 John Trethewey, a Tasmanian historian researching World War I veterans, discovered that some were in unmarked graves. That led to families and friends of the First AIF in Tasmania starting The Headstone Project.

After eight years of effort, led by Andrea and Ron Gerrard researching, finding families, planning, fundraising and erecting headstones, the group dedicated the last of 316 previously unmarked veterans' graves in Hobart's Cornelian Bay Cemetery in December 2018.

Inspired by the Tasmanian program, John Brownlie and Neil Rossiter developed The Headstone Project South Australia to mark the graves of World War I veterans with a prescribed military headstone to acknowledge their service to our nation. This program has been successful in providing due recognition to those who served and providing comfort and closure to their families. It is speculated that there could be as many as 2½ thousand World War I diggers buried across South Australia in unmarked graves. John Brownlie has written to the Leader of the Opposition and noted the following:

Between 2018 and 2024, The Headstone Project received recurrent annual funding committed over two separate three-year funding agreements. This financial support has now ceased as it was not renewed at the recent state Budget.

Recently, the Hon. Tim Whetstone MP, the member for Chaffey, mentioned the value and benefits of The Headstone Project South Australia in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 1 May, noting that there are still 680 unmarked graves across South Australia. On 5 June 2024, the Hon. Frank Pangallo noted in the other place that:

It was extremely disappointing to learn this week that the veterans affairs minister, Joe Szakacs, told the project they were unlikely to get the funding they are seeking to identify around 50 graves each year over the next four years. It costs about $1,500 per grave, which includes a headstone and a plaque. We are talking about a paltry $75,000 a year, yet the government can find millions of dollars for their pet bread and circuses projects.

As Mr Brownlie mentions, the project received funding from the Marshall Liberal South Australian government in two three-year funding arrangements between 2018 and 2024. As an additional blow, the Albanese government has recently refused a request to grant the group deductible gift recipient status, further compromising the likelihood of the group attracting funding for this admirable cause.

I want to also note that I have witnessed on one of my visits to Mobilong Prison that some of these headstones are manufactured there, so that is good work by the prisoners in contributing to this project. I think we owe due recognition to all those who we can identify where they lay in unmarked graves so that we can give them the respect they deserve.

I mentioned earlier today about visiting the battlefields of France and Belgium, and I visited the battlefield of Fromelles which was one of those sites. Apart from being a terrible place, just flat country where they were charging into machine guns, the enemy had a water tower so that they could see everyone coming which resulted in a terrible massacre where a lot of allied soldiers were buried in mass graves. I take my hat off and salute the people working with the new Fromelles cemetery, which is a beautiful spot to commemorate the soldiers, where they have done a huge amount of work at that site in identifying the remains of soldiers who fell in that terrible battle, which was just one of the terrible battles of World War I.

Certainly, when you visit some of those cemeteries, especially those for World War I, too many times you see the grave marked with the unknown soldier, 'Known unto God'. That shows the devastation that happened in war, especially with identifying people who have paid the supreme sacrifice. I think what we should be doing here in this state is all we can to support this project to make sure that we give those who have not only been prepared to lay down their life but did lay down their life for this great country. Lest we forget.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:54): I rise to close the debate about this important project. I want to make a correction to the Hansard. In my previous contribution I made a comment about an earlier contribution in May from the member for Chaffey and stated that there were 680 graves that still needed to be identified by The Headstone Project. That is the number that have been identified by The Headstone Project and acknowledged.

I acknowledge the Labor government coming late to the table with a funding contribution. Even though it pales in comparison to our contribution of $75,000 a year, $20,000 a year is a start, but it took our policy announcement for that money to come, and I think our veterans and our long-lost World War I veterans deserve better. It should not get to the stage where one party puts up an excellent policy on supporting The Headstone Project for another party to come in, albeit with a much lesser amount than our $75,000 a year—which we will put into a fund for supporting The Headstone Project if we are fortunate to be given the privilege of winning government in 2026.

As I indicated earlier, right across South Australia, and certainly right across the world, in fact, if you look at it on a broader scale, there are so many unmarked graves of those who have served. I mentioned before about the work that has been done at various sites. Fromelles is one that has been in the media multiple times regarding the magnificent work done by people to recover bodies. The work they go through in identifying remains of soldiers from that fierce battle does bring some closure to families, in the sense that they know where their loved one fell. Now it gives them the opportunity, if they ever visit those battlefields in France and Belgium, to go to a marked location and visit their loved one.

When I was there at the end of 2010, I was privileged to find the grave of my brother-in-law's great-uncle. It was in a small military cemetery attached to a civilian cemetery. I was privileged to put a little wooden cross there and get some photos. I know that my brother-in-law and my sister have been there since to visit that grave. That is one of the ones that have been marked for many years but, as I said, there are thousands of these locations right across Europe.

Obviously, there are many graves here in South Australia. As I indicated, I was at a service on Monday at West Terrace, where there are at least 4,000 servicemen and servicewomen buried at the West Terrace Cemetery. I think the more we can do to recognise the sacrifice that people have made, right across well over a century of looking after us and being prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, the better. It is vital in making sure that history is preserved so that people can recognise what servicemen and servicewomen have done for this great country.

If we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it, and we do not want things to repeat. Sadly, we have seen too many conflicts over time and there are plenty of conflicts at the moment around the world. Sadly, they do not seem to stop; there is something going on in the world somewhere wherever we are. I commend the people from The Headstone Project. I would certainly like the state Malinauskas Labor government to commit to $75,000 a year and I would certainly like, as we have asked, the Albanese Labor government to make The Headstone Project eligible for deductible gift recipient status.