Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 8 May 2007] p1737b-1737b Mr Alan Carpenter

ANZAC DAY - Statement by Premier MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [2.01 pm]: From 22 to 25 April 2007 I visited Malaysia at the invitation of the State Secretary of . The main purpose of the travel was to commemorate in Sandakan, Sabah, to remember and honour more than 2 400 Australian and British soldiers, including 137 Western Australians, killed in the horrific Sandakan death marches in World War II. En route to Sandakan, we stopped at , where I met with the Chief Minister of Sabah, YAB Datuk Musa Haji Aman. On arrival in Sandakan, I was welcomed by the President of Sandakan Municipal Council, Mr Yeo Boon Hai, who continued to host me throughout my visit. The Anzac Day dawn service was held at the Sandakan Memorial Park, and was the first service organised by the commonwealth government, although services have been held at the site for many years. More than 300 people from all over Australia and Malaysia attended the service. My parliamentary colleagues Mr Max Trenorden, MLA, and Mr Nigel Hallett, MLC, also attended and joined me on various tours and official functions throughout the visit. I am sure they would both agree with me that the Anzac Day dawn service was incredibly moving. The Sandakan death marches were a shocking and tragic time in the shared and Malaysia. The commemoration is a time when people from both countries remember and acknowledge the horror of war. From more than 2 400 soldiers, only six survived the Sandakan death marches. The six survivors were rescued by local people, who hid and cared for them and delivered them safely to allied forces. We owe the people of Sabah a debt of gratitude for their bravery and compassion and I am pleased that, over the years, Western Australia has developed a special relationship with Malaysia, particularly the state of Sabah. This year, seven students from WA schools, as well as 15 Australian cadets selected from a national RSL youth development program, took part in the Sandakan Anzac Day ceremony - a great opportunity for those young people. This was done through the partnership with Australia and Sabah schools scholarship run by the exhibition group. I would like to acknowledge the great work of the people who helped organise this visit: Mr Verghese Jacob, regional director of the Western Australian Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur; and Ms Catherin Chua, acting head of public relations, tourism and cultural section at the Sandakan Municipal Council. The Sandakan Anzac Day commemorations generated much media interest - here in Western Australia, across the nation and in Malaysia. I was pleased that I could contribute in some small way to raising the awareness of this wartime tragedy both at home and abroad, and to ensuring the story of Sandakan was told and that homage was and continues to be paid to all the heroes lost there during that period. It was a great, absolute privilege for me to be part of the Anzac Day commemorations. I would particularly like to thank the member for Avon for encouraging me to visit Sandakan for the Anzac Day service. I appreciated the excellent company and support from him and Nigel Hallett, MLC, and their respective partners. Mr M.W. Trenorden: Before you sit down, Premier, I want to say that you were an excellent ambassador for Western Australia. You performed outstandingly out there, and it was a great pleasure to be with you.

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