Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I too stand tonight to acknowledge the courage and the service of those who fought and those who fought and died in the battles of fire support bases Coral and Balmoral. I note that the shadow minister for veterans’ affairs and also the Prime Minister went through quite a bit of the detail of what actually occurred in those events of some 40 years ago, so I will not go back over that detail on this occasion. I join with them in acknowledging the fact that these men brought great credit to their units, their mates and their country through their service at that time. As others have said—and it ought to be acknowledged yet again—it was in the very best spirit of the Anzacs over the last century and there is no doubt that they can proudly hold their heads high for the way they performed under fire so many years ago.

The shadow minister and others mentioned a bit of the history of the time. There is no doubt that, to an extent, that colours the memory of many of what occurred on the home front back in the sixties and early seventies. It was a turbulent time. It was a time when Australia and America in particular were coping with the first televised war, and there is no doubt about it: neither country did their fighting men proud in the way in which they responded to the circumstances of that time. As I said earlier, these Australian men served their country in the very best spirit of the Anzac tradition and we owe them our respect and our gratitude. They were prepared to do what needed to be done at that time on the instructions of those whom they represented, the Australian people as represented by the governments of the day. In that they are as every other soldier has been in serving on behalf of our country over the last century.

When we bid farewell to troops today, to those going to Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor or the Solomon Islands, we always honour their service and respect their performance. We know that they will do a great job for their country. As we farewell them they always go with our blessing—as it should have been at the time of which I speak—and when they return it is with our blessing and our acknowledgement of their service. The reaction at the time of which I speak was unfortunate and disgraceful in many respects. I was 12 years old when the Australian commitment to Vietnam ended. I have seen some of the TV footage, but my memories extend not much further than that. But I know that what happened did cut to the quick many of those who served and that it is still an issue that they deal with even today.

Among the things that have been most important to me in my job as the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and when previously serving as the shadow minister for veterans’ affairs—and I note the presence in the chamber of a former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Danna Vale, and the current shadow minister—are the personal stories of what people went through and their insights into the circumstances at that time. These stories have been told by people in conflicts from World War II right through to Vietnam and to Iraq and Afghanistan today.

Getting an insight into that personal experience has been very significant in gaining some understanding of what they went through. Having dealt with many veterans of Coral-Balmoral in the last couple of weeks, I have memories that I will treasure over the years—understanding individual acts of bravery, understanding the terrible loss felt by family members who lost loved ones and by comrades who lost mates, getting a sense of the small things, which in fact mean so much when one is under fire. I have never been in that situation; I do not think I ever will be. But I pay tribute to those who were. Over the last couple of weeks, it has been an immense privilege for me as minister to be a small part of what they have been going through, to share aspects of what they went through so long ago, to have a few beers and to hear them tell a few stories about each other in a very blokey fashion, as is the Australian way, but in a manner which shows their enduring respect for each other in a very digger-like fashion.

I think it has also been clear to many of them that what has occurred over the last week has been part of a healing experience. I have had individuals come to me and say: ‘This has taken 40 years. I haven’t been to a reunion in all that time, and this has been very special to me.’ I have had blokes come to me and say: ‘I wasn’t going to come. Bloody hell, I’m glad that I did.’ I have had people say to me, ‘The acknowledgements that we have received in recent times have’—as I think the shadow minister referred to—‘been part of moving me along a journey towards coming to terms with aspects of what did take place so long ago.’

There was certainly a huge crowd at the reception in the Great Hall. I was talking to the secretary of my department several days beforehand, and he said, ‘I think we are going to need a bigger hall.’ I will not use the exact words I used in response, other than to say that I said: ‘I don’t think we have got one. You’d better open the foyer.’ It was a huge crowd, bigger than the crowd at the commemoration of Long Tan a couple of years ago. There were more people at Coral-Balmoral and there was also a higher acceptance rate. On that night, the diggers did themselves and their families proud in the way they conducted themselves. I got a real sense from the group that although it was, to an extent, a solemn occasion, at the same time it was also a very proud occasion. There were plenty of laughs and quite a few beers, and a good time was had in circumstances which I know for many of them were very tense. The next day at the Vietnam veterans memorial there was a more solemn service. Again, it was done with great dignity and with great respect, with the emphasis on those who had lost their lives so long ago.

I also had the honour of representing the government at the 102 Field Battery remembrance service at Duntroon. It was very quirky, and I have now learnt that is the way gunners tend to behave. Some excellent words were employed by the speakers, involving things like asking the younger artillerymen to tell the older artillerymen when guns went off, because it is the nature of artillery that you do not tend to know, particularly as years go by and hearing degrades.

I then had the honour of going to Townsville, attending the 1RAR dawn service at the barracks and the dinner that they had that night. Again, they were great occasions, quirky in their own way. It was certainly a great honour to share that time with them and to talk to some of the more recent diggers who have been serving our country overseas. It gave a real sense that this was cross-generational in terms of the circumstances of service, and that in itself was also special.

I shared some time with the shadow minister last Sunday at the 3RAR memorial service at the Vietnam vets memorial, where the focus was on Balmoral, in particular, and what occurred throughout their tour of duty. They had performed with honour on a number of occasions—in the Tet offensive, as was mentioned earlier, in Operation Pinnaroo, in Coral-Balmoral and in other engagements as well. As I mentioned earlier, the sense that I got was of men who had done their country proud but whose country had not recognised that to the extent that it should have in the years gone by. I certainly join with the shadow minister, as I have on previous occasions on these matters, in apologising for the way they were treated—as much as I can apologise in the circumstances for what occurred at a time before I served in this parliament. We have to ensure that this never occurs again to our fighting men and women. I have to say that I do not have much doubt about that. I think that the country took a long time to learn from what occurred back then, but I think it has learnt and I do not think we will ever see that situation again. I would certainly see it with dread.

I will end with some of the positive comments that I have been very pleased to receive on behalf of the parliament in a bipartisan fashion about what has occurred with these commemorations. I received an email recently from one of the key organisers, Garry Prendergast. I certainly want to congratulate him, Don Tait and the rest of the committee of veterans who organised what occurred, with the assistance of DVA. I am on the record saying this and I will say it again: organising Vietnam veterans is very much like herding cats. The fact that these guys did it without injuries I found quite amazing and to their credit. But, having spent a bit of time with these blokes, I can understand how they managed to do it. The email from Garry reads as follows:

G’day Allan,

Let me say again,

Your DVA Staff did a magnificent job in assisting our 40th Anniversary Committee and my Townsville team in particular to make the Anniversary week such a memorable event for all the diggers and their partners that attended. The feedback is terrific.

I really mean that.

Every one of your staff who were involved need to see that their efforts were important and very much appreciated.

From the people helping at the entrance to Parliament House and at the Memorial, to the publication editors/producers for the Booklet and the Invites, to the staff on the end of the DVA phone and all the principal players like Bill Rolfe, Kerry, Richard, Ian, Susan, Kylie and Jim D plus Allison and Glenda in Townsville, they were so co-operative, helpful and diligent. I know they worked long hours at times and it showed in the quality of the results of their work.

I was especially pleased that you were able to come to Townsville and see the “1 Bn grunts” do our thing. I hope you enjoyed our unique Dawn Service and the Dinner function ... and I appreciated spending some of the time chatting with you.

Last but not least, thank you for the DVA financial support.

It was definitely needed.

PLEASE pass this around DVA for all to see.

Cheers ... Pepe.

Garry Prendergast

Co-Chair of the 40th Anniversary Committee.

To all those involved: congratulations on a job well done. I mean that with respect to those who organised these events on this occasion, be they veterans or DVA staff, but particularly all those involved in what happened so many years ago and who have been dealing with the issues that they came away with over the last 40 years. You brought credit upon your country then and you certainly brought credit upon your country over the last couple of weeks. It was a great honour and a privilege to spend some time with them at this very special time for them. As I also said in an email recently to a vet, ‘There are times when this job is a complete pain, but there is no doubt that events like this and the opportunity to spend time with veterans who have done our country proud is something that makes it all very much worth while.’

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