NSW Veterans’ Affairs Minister David Harris reveals close family links to Gallipoli

Anzac Day has an all the more significant meaning for NSW MP David Harris now that he is the new Veterans’ Minister– his relative was the first man ashore at Gallipoli in 1915.

NSW’s new Veterans’ Affairs Minister David Harris will take a very personal approach to his first Anzac Day in the role, as he remembers his great great uncle - the first man ashore at Gallipoli in 1915.

Mr Harris, who will attend four commemorative events today, said the letter Lieutenant Duncan Chapman wrote home about his experience was a prized family heirloom.

“He survived Gallipoli but was killed a year later in a machine gun charge in Pozieres,” Mr Harris said. “He was a remarkable man.”

In the letter Lt Chapman wrote: “To me was given the extreme honour of being actually the first man to put foot ashore on the peninsula, and to lead a portion of the men up the hill in that now historic charge.

“What a living hell it was too and how I managed to go through it from 4-o-clock in the morning of Sunday April 25 to Wednesday the 28th under fire the whole time without being hit is a mystery to me,” he said.

David Harris, NSW Minister for Veterans with The ANZAC Memorial in Sydney. Picture: Julian Andrews.

Lt Chapman was promoted to captain and was among 345 Australians from the 45th Battalion who died at the battle of Pozieres in 1916.

A life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled in his birthplace of Maryborough in Queensland, on April 25 2015, exactly 100 years to the day he set foot on the sand at Gallipoli.

Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, believed to be the first man ashore during World War One at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. Picture: Supplied

Duncan Chapmans statue in Maryborough. Picture: Alistair Brightman

One hundred and eight years later, his great great nephew is now the NSW minister responsible for a suite of portfolios including both Veterans’ and Aboriginal Affairs.

He is keen to bring those together and see if there are any issues that cross over.

“We have to understand that we are operating essentially in a federal system so you don’t want to have any duplication,” Mr Harris said.

“One of the things that does concern me with veterans is the high suicide rate. That‘s something that has to be addressed now,” he said.

Mr Harris wants to address high veteran suicide rates. Picture: Julian Andrews.

Mr Harris, also Minister for the Central Coast, met with Indigenous veterans in his electorate before today’s service.

Norm Moffatt, from Umina, said he hid his Aboriginal heritage from his colleagues when he served in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment in Malaysia.

“It was frowned upon to let anybody know you had a bit of blackfella in you back then,” he said. “There was no racism as a result. We were just mates.”

Mr Moffatt received a gold card from the Department of Veterans Affairs because of a leg injury and has been well cared for as a result.

“I know a lot of veterans have had a difficult time and I think anything the minister can do to help them would be a very good thing,” he said.

Mr Harris said today was an opportunity for everyone to come together and pay tribute to the Anzacs and all those men and women who had followed in their footsteps.

“I encourage people to attend the commemoration events, either in their local area or to make the journey into the Sydney CBD,” Mr Harris said.