The most decorated soldier in the British Commonwealth was Henry Murray, a bushman who hailed from Evandale.

His actions at Gallipoli earned him the Distinguished Conduct Medal before gallantry on the Western Front earned him the Distinguished Service Order followed by a Victoria Cross and another bar to his DSO.

The French Croix de Guerre followed and he was made a Companion in the Order of St Michael and St George by King George V.

His nickname “Mad Harry” was an unsuitable moniker; he was not a reckless soldier but a keen strategist, whose courage came from a sense of duty.

Australia’s official war historian Charles Bean, who labelled Murray “the most distinguished fighting officer of the AIF”, described him as “cool, determined and confident”.

Murray had a less eloquent explanation of his exploits for his daughter, who once took his medals from a box and asked what he had done to earn the cross with the purple ribbon.

He glanced at the VC (earned in a night attack at Stormy Trench, where he fought off enemy attacks and led a “brilliant” charge)  and said he had fetched a bottle of rum for his commanding officer.

Other Tasmanians followed his heroics and earned VCs for their actions.

Others, like ordinary seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean, committed acts of such extraordinary bravery that their snub for recognition is a national disgrace.

Another military area where Tasmania is relatively snubbed is the fair share of federal defence spending.

Western Australia and NSW host the two major naval bases, patrol boats are based in the Northern Territory and Queensland, South Australia builds ships, most of our soldiers are based in northern Australian states and the RAAF’s Air Command headquarters is located near Sydney.

This operational capacity and its location makes sense based on where deployment is most likely and population is greatest.

Clearly no one is talking about building warships on the Tamar River (they’d get stuck, but that’s a column for another day) or relocating the submarine fleet to Burnie wharf.

However, we could design them. We could test those designs and build the prototypes.

We could run the training programs for them through the Australian Maritime College in Launceston.

We could produce very capable equipment for the army based on world-leading mining vehicle technology on the North-West Coast.

Tasmania’s manufacturing industry has taken a beating over recent years and decades and its future is not in making low cost, mass produced products that compete with powerhouses like China.

Where it can compete is in the manufacturing of ideas: being a world class exporter of high-end products that fill a niche market and sell for a premium.

The University of Tasmania has been doing a lot of work in this area (as has several private businesses).

Its plans for a new Defence Innovation and Design Precinct in Northern Tasmania is potentially revolutionary for the North and North-West.

Research and design will be the new battleground where Tasmania can, like its military serviceman and woman, punch above its weight.