Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion from my friend the member for Gellibrand. Across the electorate of McEwen, we have a long and rich history supporting our armed forces. Since the Boer War, the area has trained many thousands of soldiers heading into theatres of war across the globe. The township in Seymour has a particularly proud military tradition. This tradition in Seymour continued again on 18 August this year, as it does every year when veterans join their mates, their families, their neighbours and friends, spanning generations, and gather at the Vietnam veterans commemorative walk for Vietnam Veterans Day and, this year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous Long Tan battle.

This day reminds us of the honour and sacrifice and the toll that war leaves in its wake. The Vietnam War is a crucial marker in Australia's service history and the battle of Long Tan is unique with that experience. One of the most substantial engagements in the Vietnam War for our Australian forces, this battle was where a small but brave cohort of 105 Australians and three New Zealanders fought and weathered an attack of some 2½ thousand Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops in a rubber plantation. That is the personification of the grit, the courage and the determination to never give up that is synonymous with Australia's armed forces.

Many have written and spoken about what made Long Tan such a pivotal battle for our forces. It is something that has stayed in our national memory. For me, it has something to do with perseverance, through seemingly insurmountable odds, that Aussies are really the largest team on the field and you can always count on them to show an outsize of courage against all odds.

Because of the significance of Long Tan in our national memory, Vietnam Veterans Day was chosen as the day where veterans come together with members of the community to pay their respects. In McEwen, and all over Australia, veterans and family, friends and supporters joined together to reflect and to remember the 62,100 Australian service personnel who fought in the name of our country, but also to recognise the 521 Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice and the 2,398 who returned wounded. It is our responsibility to remember them. It is our duty to tell their stories.

We must also remember that it is just as vital to consider the heroes who have different stories—those who returned to a grateful nation but to a home where they were not properly acknowledged or afforded the dignity and respect that they deserved as returned service personnel. They returned to a nation divided, where they carried the most horrendous memories and scars—scars which never heal, memories that never fade and pains that never cease. And, sadly, we know that since then many have suffered as a result of the trauma of their wartime experience.

It is why I believe that 521 may have lost their lives in Vietnam, but there are many, many more who have since gone directly and indirectly as a result of this war. At the time, we did not know what we know today about the deep and lasting impacts of post-traumatic stress disorder and the mental and physical burden on returning servicemen from their experience and the manner in which they are welcomed back to civilian life. The later parts of the war were the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War. It was a time of great passion and debate, and a time in which our service personnel were often caught up in the battle, but it was not about their sacrifice. This is a part of our history that time has begun to heal. It is my belief that acknowledging this part of the conflict helps in some way to mend those emotional wounds.

While the war itself was politically contentious, there can be no doubt about the courage and sacrifice of those who served and those who wore our uniforms with pride. I have stood in this place on more than one occasion to make clear my feelings on this subject, and it is always important to reaffirm them. We have countless examples of loss and sacrifice during our time in Vietnam, not only for those directly involved but also for their families, left behind to keep businesses afloat, raise children and contribute to society, all while carrying the heaviest of burdens—the fear that this might be the day that their loved one does not return from the fight. I recognise and pay tribute to the often overlooked group of people, heroes in their own right. Whatever the opinions of people in regard to the motivations for the Vietnam War, I personally want to state my total appreciation, respect and thanks to all those who bravely went to war, many of them without the luxury of choice. For that courage and that bravery, I say thanks. (Time expired)

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