Redlands councillor Tracey Huges has delivered a deeply personal ANZAC address to students at Alexandra Hills State School, sharing the emotional reality of having a child deployed to war.
Speaking as both a community leader and a mother, Cr Huges recounted her son Daniel’s service aboard HMAS Stuart during operations in the Middle East.
“Today I am talking to you as a mum,” she said.
Daniel, who joined Navy Cadets in high school, went on to enlist and was deployed at just 20 years old to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Catalyst.
“You could understand that as a mum learning that my son Daniel was going to war, made me feel sick in the tummy and I cried when Daniel’s ship sailed from Sydney Harbour,” she said.
Cr Huges described the moment HMAS Stuart departed, carrying 177 personnel into a conflict zone, as both “amazing” and heartbreaking.
“War is not a good thing and is not something that you ever want to do,” she said.
Her speech connected Daniel’s deployment to ongoing global tensions, noting the ship’s role protecting vital oil infrastructure in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Nearly every day on the news you hear the stories about the oil ships with our petrol, coming through the ‘Strait of Hormuz’, which is where HMAS Stuart was sent, protecting the oil rigs which we know is really, really important and extremely dangerous,” Cr Huges said.
She urged students to consider the impact on families left behind, asking them to imagine the worry felt by parents, siblings and grandparents.
“But worst of all, imagine your mum, the most special person in your life… Imagine how sad and worried I was,” she said.
The address also captured the relief and emotion of reunion, as Daniel returned safely after seven months at sea.
“We heard the ship before we saw it and the sound carried for miles across the sea,” she said.
“I can’t share what it felt like to have them all home, it was so emotional.”
Cr Huges said a gold cross gifted by her son during deployment remains her most treasured possession, symbolising not material value but “the real value of love”.
The councillor used her family’s experience to reinforce the meaning of ANZAC Day, reminding students that many service members never returned home.
“Today as we remember, our ANZAC’s… they went to war to serve and protect our country, but tragically and so sadly many of them did not get to come home to their precious families,” Cr Huges said.
She urged students to reflect on the sacrifices made by families across generations.
“When you go home this afternoon… please give your mum a big hug, remembering that so many mum’s never got that extra special hug from their ANZAC hero,” she said.
Cr Huges said sharing her story was her way of ensuring young Australians understand the human cost of service.
“AS WE REMEMBER OUR ANZAC HEROS TODAY — IT IS SO IMPORTANTANT TO REMEMBER AND HONOUR THEM.
“LEST WE FORGET.”
