Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (10:32): Following our recent rather fraught Anzac Day commemorations, I rise today to extend the Parliament’s gratitude to one particular western Victorian who has passionately advocated for war veterans. Maria Cameron of Port Fairy has outspokenly fought for the legacy of our fallen soldiers on a number of occasions, particularly by tracking down their descendants. In 2009 she played a significant role in the discovery and identification of bodies in Fromelles in northern France. In 2017 she took the fight up to a company planning to build wind turbines on a site of the 1917 Bullecourt battles in France, the final resting place of thousands of Australian soldiers. Last week it was reported that Maria’s determination to track down the relatives of a World War I sergeant who was buried in a pauper’s grave alongside two others in the Port Fairy cemetery was rewarded. Maria found his descendant earlier this year, Kym McPhee, who had been searching for her long-lost great-grandfather for 20 years. The contribution of Maria Cameron and many other Australians to preserve the history of our soldiers, who fought for our freedoms overseas, should always be recognised and commended, and I pay great tribute to Maria Cameron.