The Hon Danna Vale MP
Minister for Veterans' Affairs
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

at the cheque presentation to the
Fremantle Dockers Football Club

I am delighted to be here today, to lend the Federal Government's support to the 2002 Len Hall commemorative game and to recognise the commitment of the Fremantle Dockers to honouring the service of Australians in wartime.

For more than 80 years, Anzac Day has been a national institution - a day when Australians have gathered to honour our servicemen and women and remember those who have given their lives for our nation.

As a sports-loving country, it is hardly surprising that one of our national institutions - Anzac Day - should also have become bound up with another - Australian Rules football.

For many years, it has been common for Australian families to attend the Anzac Day march in the morning, and then head off to the footy in the afternoon.

This strong link between great Aussie traditions has been recognised by our football clubs, which particularly in recent years, have incorporated commemorative activities into their matches on or around Anzac Day.

This year will be the seventh commemorative game for the Dockers, since their inaugural tribute to Len Hall, a devout Fremantle supporter and one of the last great Australian heroes whose service at Gallipoli gave us the word "Anzac".

I regret that I never had the chance to meet Len Hall, but I am sure he deeply appreciated the club's commitment to honouring him and all of Australia's veterans each year.

Certainly, I can say that the Federal Government strongly supports the concept of the Len Hall commemorative game.

In just a few years, it has become an important part of the Anzac tradition here in WA - a reminder of the contribution made to our nation by those young Australian men and women who put their lives on the line for the rest of us and our Australian way of life.

This year we mark the 60th anniversary of the defence of Australia, when Australians for the first time faced the real prospect of invasion.

1942 was a dark year for us, with the Fall of Singapore, the bombing of Darwin, Broome and other northern Australian towns, the Japanese invasion along the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea and the Battles of Milne Bay and the Coral Sea.

It was the year that marked the beginning of the war in the Pacific, so it is appropriate that on this sixtieth anniversary, the Dockers should choose to honour those who were wounded, captured or killed fighting on the seas.

I understand that the coin for the Len Hall game this year will be tossed by a survivor from HMAS Perth - and there could hardly be a more fitting choice.

The sinking of HMAS Perth in the Sunda Strait in March of 1942 represents the second largest loss suffered in wartime by the Royal Australian Navy - second only to the loss of the HMAS Sydney of the coast of Western Australia only three months before.

Of the Perth's complement of 680 men, 352 officers and ratings were killed. Of the remainder who became prisoners of the Japanese, one-third died in captivity.

The Len Hall commemorative game will be an opportunity for the thousands of football fans - especially the Dockers and Richmond fans, and the whole community - to remember and honour the service and sacrifice of these men and all of those who have served Australia in wars and in conflicts.

I regret that my ministerial duties will prevent me from attending the game myself.

However, I am delighted to be able to be here today to present Mr Rick Hart, Chairman of the Fremantle Dockers, with a grant of $10,000 towards the costs of staging the special commemorative activities as part of this year's match.