Students set for life-changing Kokoda trek with Victorian MPs

Mentored and accompanied by Members of Parliament, the year 11s from across the state have been awarded a scholarship named in honour of a Kokoda veteran from their area.

‘Every student knows the story of Gallipoli - the sacrifice and the cost, but we lost. However, at Kokoda we were fighting to save Australia and we won,’ Gippsland East MP Tim Bull said.

‘The 39th Australian Infantry Battalion and 2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion were the first two battalions to be engaged by the Japanese at Kokoda during World War Two and were made up of men from almost every town in Victoria.’

“ ‘Victorians were at the forefront of the battle to save Australia.’ ”

Tim Bull, Gippsland East MP

In 2024, 25 students from schools in East Gippsland, Echuca/Swan Hill, Baw Baw, Wangaratta, Euroa, Sale and Latrobe Valley are walking the trail in early July.

They will be supported by Mr Bull (right), as well as Eildon MP Cindy McLeish, Narracan MP Wayne Farnham, Morwell MP Martin Cameron and Hawthorn MP John Pesutto.

Mr Bull will lead half of the group from Kokoda in the north to Owers’ Corner in the south, while former Narracan MP Gary Blackwood will take the other half in the opposite direction.

They will meet in the middle of the nine-day trek at Efogi, a small village on the southern slope of the Owen Stanley Ranges.

In total, the students and MPs will trek 138 kilometres by foot and also visit the Bomana War Cemetery at Port Moresby to see the graves of those who died.

‘Each student has been allocated a fallen soldier from their area and we will take them to the location where they fought and were ultimately killed - and then take them to their grave,’ Mr Bull said.

‘This is often a deeply powerful experience for the students as at the graveside we ask them to make a commitment to that soldier about how they will live their life.’

The cross-party pilgrimage has been happening for more than a decade and as part of their application to be involved, students write a short essay on what Kokoda means to Australia.

They are also interviewed by current serving or veteran servicemen and servicewomen before being awarded a scholarship.

The journey doesn’t end for the secondary school students once the trek is complete.

Upon their return to Australia they become Kokoda ambassadors for 12 months, speaking at RSLs and Anzac and Remembrance Day services in their local communities.

‘It’s a tough but great experience,’ Mr Bull said.

‘Not only does it tell the story of Kokoda to a new generation, but it also helps to shape our future leaders.’