John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week on 18 August our nation commemorated the 45th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. This battle proved so symbolic of Australia's service in the Vietnam War that we now use this date to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day. For anyone of my vintage, we will never forget the nightly pictures zoomed into our living rooms of the horrors faced in Vietnam. The stories of the courage of 108 soldiers from D Company of the 6th RAR, fighting in a rubber plantation at Long Tan against a Vietcong force of up to 2,500 strong, have been recounted many times today in this place and over recent years. Despite being outnumbered by nearly 10 to one, the Australian soldiers stood their ground in atrocious monsoonal weather, without any radio support, for hours on end and halted the progression of the dogged North Vietnamese force towards a position of great strategic strength.

The record shows that 18 Australians were killed on that day and another 24 wounded. After the battle, more than 245 enemy combatants were found dead on the battlefield. It is with great pride that we retell the stories of our national heroes. It is also with great shame that we accept the fact that, in the 15 years immediately following the Vietnam War, there was no recognition for these diggers and their heroic acts in the face of fire—the equal of their forefathers in the two world wars.

This lack of acknowledgment and appreciation for such incredible human sacrifice is not limited to this battle or just to this war. We in this place cannot change history but we can make sure that we learn from it to ensure that it does not repeat. Last week in this place I spoke on a condolence motion for our nation's greatest war heroine, Nancy Wake. I referred to the travesty that our nation refused to formally honour this World War II legend as, technically, she fought against the Nazis under the banner of our allies rather than in an Australian uniform. The fact is that the post-war governments of France, Great Britain and the United States all separately gave Nancy Wake high military honours, yet it took until John Howard in 2004 for Australia to bestow an award upon Nancy. It was not lost on many who defend our nation.

Last month, I spoke in this place in support of my first private member's motion to recognise this year's centenary of the Royal Australian Navy. I highlighted that none of Australia's 97 Victoria Cross recipients served in the Royal Australian Navy, despite incredible stories of heroism and self-sacrifice that have been recounted about many of our sailors over the past 100 years. In a speech last week, the shadow minister for veterans' affairs described the 15-year gap between the actions by those at Long Tan and our formal recognition of their bravery as a dark stain on our nation's history. Such stains do not erase easily.

As a group, the efforts of the men of D company 6RAR were finally honoured last week when they received our nation's military's highest honour, the Unit Citation for Gallantry. In the provision of this recognition, I echo the shadow minister's sentiments that, as a nation, we should not limit our thoughts and our appreciation just to those who carried a gun. For every life lost there will invariably be a parent, a sibling, a partner and, tragically, sometimes a child who will mourn this loss and carry a scar as indelible as the national stain I spoke of.

To those lost in the rubber plantation on that fateful day 45 years ago and to those who came back, irrevocably changed from the experience, to everyone else who has served, to the tens of thousands who have served more recently in Samoa, in Timor, and now in Afghanistan, and to the families, friends and local communities all impacted by the tragic loss of our finest in their prime, this Vietnam Veterans Day and all veterans days are our nation's way of saying thank you and we will never forget.

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