Page 1507 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 April 2013
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Against the often condescending views of many politicians on both sides of politics, Mrs Thatcher proved that a woman could not only lead the nation but be the right man for the job. Against the misplaced conviction of Labour that they are a monopoly of working class political leadership, Mrs Thatcher showed that the self-made working person can achieve anything on their own.
The political spectrum today has been permanently shifted to the right as a result of what Mrs Thatcher achieved. In the final analysis, though, Mrs Thatcher’s legacy is all about freedom—the freedom to enrich yourself by honest hard work, the freedom to live according to the dictates of your own conscience and the freedom to not have to live by another’s leave.
The greatest Prime Minister since Churchill, a woman who rewrote the political rule book, who made conviction rather than consensus the model to be emulated, Mrs Thatcher was a truly remarkable individual and remains an inspiration to women everywhere.
Baroness Thatcher, rest in peace.
Anzac Day
DR BOURKE (Ginninderra) (6.38): I would like to pay tribute tonight, in the lead-up to Anzac Day, to the veterans in our community and the role of the armed services in the development of Canberra. I had the pleasure of attending the Anzac aged-care wreath-laying ceremony last Wednesday. The ceremony recognises aged veterans and aged-care residents in the lead-up to Anzac Day, especially those now too frail to cope with the memorial’s full Anzac Day services.
The ceremony was a moving event, and I congratulate all involved, including the veterans, their families and the nursing home staff who made it possible. The service included veterans from the Goodwin Village homes at Farrer and Monash, Mountain View Aged Care Plus Centre, Morshead home for veterans, Horton House and Warmington Lodge, Thomas Eccles Gardens and Morling Lodge.
In this Canberra centenary year, it is also appropriate to recognise the role of members of our armed forces in the history of Canberra. Amongst the first powers of the commonwealth parliament listed in the Australian Constitution is the defence power. Soon after parliament chose the national capital site, it established the Royal Military College, Duntroon. In 1911, it was one of the earliest commonwealth institutions in the capital territory. Two years later, at Canberra’s naming and foundation ceremony in 1913, the Light Horse, the Australian Field Artillery and the New South Wales Lancers represented Australia’s new national army, soon to be enmeshed in a world war. The tri-service Federation Guard reprised these units’ role at the first Canberra Day 100 years later, on 12 March.
Of course, when the Griffins designed Canberra, there was little air travel, no air force and they had no air strip in their plan. The new Royal Australian Air Force set up a temporary camp at Duntroon air strip, near the site of our current airport, for the
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