Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I support the Prime Minister's find words. It was a great honour to be at the ceremony this morning. I say to people in the gallery here today and people watching question time that, if you look up to those people sitting in the front row of the gallery, they are our finest Australians. They represent the values of our original Anzacs. They continued through their service whilst in uniform and in many cases since then to deliver us a great deal of pride. Vietnam veterans, when they returned from a war that their government had sent them into, were not treated well by any stretch of the imagination. The mental weight of that has been carried by many, not just veterans but by their families as well, and, in some cases, every day since. I hope today and this year, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary, they understand the pride that we have in their service and in the way in which they have contributed to our country.

Like the Prime Minister, I acknowledge the fact that 60,000 Australians were involved in serving in Vietnam, 15,000 were conscripted, 523 lives were lost, 3,000 were wounded and many, many people came back with significant scars, mental and physical. It was not just the veterans. Their partners, children and grandchildren have borne some of that weight as well. We pay tribute to them for their sacrifices, be they mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother or sister of those who served in uniform. We live in the greatest country in the world. In large part it is because of your service and many like you have gone before you and who are serving in uniform today. We pay you true honour.

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