Remembrance Day: Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson to follow up on Soldier On’s proposal for extra minute of silence

THERE were calls from the sidelines of the Remembrance Day service in Launceston for an extra minute of silence at next year’s service.

THERE were calls from the sidelines of today’s Remembrance Day service in Launceston for an extra minute of silence at next year’s service.

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, speaking after the service, said he was heading to the RSL to have a beer and discuss a proposal put forward by Soldier On, a group that represents mostly young veterans from Afghanistan.

“Soldier On have asked that in future that we take an extra minute of remembrance to actually remember those who have come back,’’ Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“Our service personnel are not just heroes, they are human beings, and we found out this week through Soldier On that over 100 Australians who have served overseas have taken their lives over the last 10 years.

“That’s three times the number of defence force personnel lost in Afghanistan.

“We will be campaigning in the next 12 months to make sure that at Remembrance Day next year we actually take time to remember those who are still suffering, still struggling, and in that way we can keep remembering our veterans.”

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In front of about 200 people at the Launceston cenotaph, Launceston Church Grammar School student Andre Briffa wondered aloud if he and others from his generation would be prepared to subject themselves to the hunger, disease and danger endured by their forebears a century earlier.

“With nothing but comfort from other soldiers,’’ Andre said.

Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, attending his first Tasmanian Remembrance Day service, stressed the importance of articulate speeches from school students.

“We are remembering the risks and the perils that members of the Australian defence forces are taking on every day, but also ensuring that continuity, that reinvigoration and reinforcement of national values is handed on from generation to generation,’’ Mr Turnbull said.

“Just as previous generations undertook great risks and hardships, to pay the supreme sacrifice, so too our soldiers, sailors, airmen and women are taking on courageous challenges and putting their lives on the line to defend us right now.”

Originally published as Remembrance Day: Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson to follow up on Soldier On’s proposal for extra minute of silence