Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to be able to stand here in this place and talk in relation to the commemorative services that have taken place this year in relation to Vietnam veterans marking the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Over the last few years, Australia has adopted the commemoration and the anniversary date of the Battle of Long Tan as the overarching commemorative date for all of the conflicts that took place in the Vietnam War. I have also had the opportunity to visit Vietnam and look at the Cu Chi tunnels and a range of other significant sites around Vietnam and to engage with the Vietnamese people in relation to what they call 'the American war'. It was certainly an amazing experience to be able to see that.

In relation to the commemorative events that have happened in the last year, when you meet so many of the Vietnam veterans—and I had the honour of doing this as Victoria's Minister for Veterans' Affairs—I think their darker, mischievous sense of humour endears them to many Australians. They certainly have a different way of looking at things! Whilst they may be a little bit more bent over and they may have a few more pains, backaches, hip aches and so forth than they had their prime, they are still a very tight bunch. I think their motto signifies what is unique about Vietnam veterans. That motto is, 'Let's honour the dead but fight like hell for the living.' I think it very clearly shows us that they have incredible feelings of loss and of sympathy for the families of those comrades and those colleagues that did not come home, but they also realise that they really need to fight for the welfare, the wellbeing and the health of those of their colleagues who did come home and who had an incredible range of impacts on their psyche from those conflicts they endured in Vietnam. In talking to many Vietnam veterans, you would have no idea that they had been through these conflicts, because, in the broad speak, they are coping very well and have never given it another moment's thought. There are others that struggle from day to day and have good days and bad days. Then there is another cohort that served in Vietnam and have not been able to really cope with the trauma and the stress that they were put through over extensive periods of time.

In commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, which has been well documented—the rainforest, the torrential downpours, the incredible outnumbering of Allied troops versus the Vietcong, the North Vietnamese armies, the associated losses and the hero status of those troops—we also need to be very mindful that a range of other heroic actions and heroic battles took place throughout the entire conflict. We need to be mindful that, in commemorating the anniversary of Long Tan, we do not in any way overlook the amazing efforts in so many other conflicts, where young men went over there and fought for our freedoms.

It was fitting that we brought the Vietnam veterans to the forefront of our Anzac Day anniversary commemorations this year. I think it has put them front and centre, and that is something that was really well received throughout the course of the year. It was fitting that the Prime Minister made such a fantastic speech at the commemorative service that was held this year in the Great Hall in Parliament House, and that we brought all of those veterans along to Canberra to show our appreciation. The services that have taken place right around Australia this year have proven that Australians are incredibly appreciative of the efforts of all of our servicemen who went to Vietnam to protect our freedoms. (Time expired)

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