Victory in the Pacific

The best way we can honour the Australians who served in the Second World War is to remember why they had to fight and to learn the lessons of those terrible days, the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of The Nationals, Mark Vaile, said today.

Mr Vaile was speaking at a VP Day anniversary ceremony at the Taree RSL Club.

"The first lesson is that freedom carries a dear price. It is not guaranteed; it has to be defended by each generation anew. It doesn't matter whether the threat is Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or Islamic terrorism: there will always be people who prefer the Munich option of appeasement. The experience of our veterans shows how wrong they are," Mr Vaile said.

"The second lesson is that democracies like Australia have great reserves of patriotism and determination that are unsuspected by our foes, and often unrecognised by ourselves.

"Hitler believed that the western democracies were decadent and ineffective. Imperial Japan believed we were weak and divided, despite the warnings of realists like Yamamoto. The Islamic terrorists today see only the froth and bubble of our consumer society; they do not understand the quiet determination of people who are free.

"So today we salute the million Australians who served in the war. We honour the thirty thousand of our number who were taken prisoner; we mourn the forty thousand who did not return.

"These men and women saved our country despite the prevarication of politicians before the war. We owe them the duty of learning from their experiences."

Contacts: (Minister Vaile) 02 6277 7420