Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence. This year it is 50 years since Australians were first involved in the Vietnam War, in which nearly 60,000 Australians served, of whom 521 lost their lives and 3,000 were wounded. Whatever one thinks of the merits of the Vietnam conflict, it was a horrific war with huge casualties. Over two million people were killed, 3.6 million people were wounded, and our staunch ally the Americans saw 304,000 of its personnel injured and 58,169 killed, of whom a remarkable 11,465 were just teenagers. Today we commemorate the 46th anniversary of Long Tan, when on 18 August 1966, 108 Diggers took on nearly 2,500 North Vietnamese regulars and Vietcong in the rubber plantations of Long Tan. Eighteen of our men lost their lives with many more injured. For those in the Delta company 6RAR, it was a day of heroism and sacrifice, and that day has stood as a monument to the courage and resolve of Australians in uniform. Against the odds, the Australians stood up and won.

Born early in the 1970s, I am too young to remember the controversy of the Vietnam war, but I have heard many a time about the political differences created by Australia's deployment. What is more, I have learnt about the difficult reception many of our Vietnam veterans received on their return home. Whatever one's belief about whether or not the deployment was right to start with, we should always embrace our soldiers who are in the field in a bipartisan way. Those men and women in uniform are putting their lives on the line to defend our nation, our interests and our values. I hope we never see another period when Australian servicemen and women depart for the battlefield and return to the family home without the full support of our political and civic leaders. To all those men and women who served in Vietnam and to those 108 brave Australians who fought at Long Tan against the odds, we say, 'Lest we forget.'

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to support the motion on Vietnam Veterans' Day, which is held on the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Although in this place we often speak of the deeds of our service personnel in Vietnam and the enormous sacrifices in the Battle of Long Tan itself, it never gets any easier to talk about, and nor should it.

This year we have a very special reminder with the Long Tan Cross here in this country. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Henry Smith said that when we see the cross for the first time and reflect on that aftermath of Long Tan:

It was carnage, the battlefield was like a cyclone devastated area, trees blown apart.

I think it has been very good that we have the cross here in the country at the moment. But, of course, that was not the worst of it. There were 17 of our own brave soldiers killed in that battle, with one more dying later from his wounds. Lieutenant Colonel Smith has raised the possibility of the cross returning on a 99-year lease. It is on loan at present. He is quoted as saying that the cross is more than just a symbol of Long Tan:

It's a symbol of 520 soldiers we lost dead and some 3000 that were wounded and all the effects on their families and loved ones.

It's wonderful to see it here in Australia.

It's an Australian built memorial in a museum in Vietnam. I wouldn't want to upset international relationships but I believe it belongs here

I suspect, knowing many of the fabulous Vietnam veterans in my own community, that this is a battle they are well and truly willing to fight, just as they have fought for proper recognition of their brave deeds and just as they have had to for appropriate health support. This is a campaign where in the long term I hope very much that they are successful in.

We recall the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966 as one of the legendary battles of our own wartime history. The 105-strong Delta Company 6th Battalion RAR defeated the Viet Cong force estimated to be up to over 2,500. The outcome was 254 Viet Cong casualties, with some reports of up to 1,000 being killed and three enemies captured. Australia suffered 18 casualties, with a further 24 soldiers wounded. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone in Delta Company survived a battle between 105—and three New Zealanders there as well—on one side, and up to 2,500 on the other.

During the Vietnam War there was an understanding that the Viet Cong attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat was imminent, and that attack came on 17 August 1966 when the Viet Cong attacked the Australian base by mortar and rocket. Bravo Company was sent out to patrol the suspected Viet Cong base on the night of 17 August, and they were later relieved by Delta Company around midday on 18 August. Delta Company made contact with the Viet Cong at 15:40 hours when they were patrolling a rubber planation in Long Tan. Following the initial contact, the Viet Cong and Australian army soldiers would be in direct contact with each other for many, many hours to come. During this time, the soldiers were surrounded by enemy battalions firing mortars and automatic weapons.

President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded D Company Sixth RAR with the US Presidential Unit Citation. The men of D Company still wear that Presidential Unit Citation. The issue of proper recognition for Long Tan veterans first came to my attention with someone who I like to consider as a friend—Bill 'Yank' Akell is one of my constituents. He was a 19 year old at the Battle of Long Tan, and features in one of the many photos of that amazing force after the battle. As you see in the amazing man he is now, you can just see what a young person he was in that battle. In my first year of being elected as the member for Ballarat he came to tell me the story that instead of receiving the Republic of Vietnam's Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation, they had received a doll. I thought he was joking. I remember thinking, 'That just seems such an incredibly odd story. How can that possibly be true?' But, of course, it was.

Bill is someone who, again, I admire very much. He enlisted in the Australian Army on 14 May in 1964 and he was a member of the 105-strong Delta Company. As part of the battle, Bill—a signaller—was tasked with rushing alone from the company headquarters to 10th platoon to deliver a spare radio set to platoon commander, Geoff Kendall,. The 10th platoon had gone off the air, and it was vital that communication was restored between 10th platoon and company headquarters. Bill played a vital role in ensuring communication was resumed between the platoon and company headquarters. When you realise, again, that Bill was just 19 years of age, it is pretty amazing.

This is one of a number of stories about the Battle of Long Tan. Bill and D Company were not evacuated until much later that night. As a further sign of true courage the battalion, led by D Company, was assigned back into the area the very next day. It then took a change of government to resolve many of the issues regarding the recognition of D Company. I certainly commend Bill on his endeavours to support his commander, Harry Smith, in actions to seek recognition for those in Delta Company. Long Tan was a very real battle which affected real people and their families. The Battle of Long Tan will always be remembered as one of the most significant engagements in the Vietnam War. It is not the only battle of Vietnam, and it is important that we remember all the others as well, but the bravery and courage of our Australian soldiers in such demanding circumstances will not be forgotten.

We should not and do not forget the service of all our personnel in the Vietnam conflict. Without question they entered the fray on behalf of their nation. Many paid the ultimate price and, as we know, many more continue to pay that price today. We should certainly not overlook them and their families.

I particularly commend the many Vietnam veterans not only in my own community but also across the country who have continued to fight for fair services for veterans and now for younger veterans in particular. I recognise the work of some of the Vietnam veterans in making sure there was a Vietnam Veterans Health Study to look at the significance of issues that are now emerging with the children of Vietnam veterans, and that has been a very important study to have done. It was a long time in getting that put together.

I also commend people in my own community who took the decision to hold special commemorations this Vietnam Veterans Day. I attended a very small ceremony in Clunes. It was the first time they had held a ceremony on Vietnam Veterans Day at all. It was a very moving service and one which for some, hopefully, healed some of the wounds from that terrible time when Vietnam veterans returned home.

Finally, I was delighted that Bill and his wife, Carol, were able to come to Canberra both to see the Long Tan Cross and to be here at the service in Canberra. He tells me it was a freezing cold day, a very challenging Canberra day for the commemoration, but that it was beautifully done. If you know Bill, he is a big six-foot-plus fellow and incredibly tough. He said that, for him, it was a very emotional experience, and when the song I was only 19 was played he said that he had a bit of a tear in his eye. I think that, for Bill to say that, it was obviously a very special, very moving and suitable occasion to remember the Vietnam War.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a very cold day at Wagga Wagga on Saturday, 18 August this year when Vietnam veterans commemorated the 50th anniversary of Australia's involvement in Vietnam, but no-one was complaining because the suffering that our soldiers endured in Vietnam was so significant that hardly anybody could afford to complain about the chilly winter of Wagga Wagga. Compared with what our men and women endured in Vietnam it just pales into insignificance.

It was against the backdrop of an overcast sky that almost 100 people gathered in the aptly named Victory Memorial Gardens on that very cold Saturday to mark that very important occasion. The Victory Memorial Gardens commemorates our victories in World War I, but our efforts in Vietnam should never be understated and will never be forgotten. Wreaths were laid at a very special memorial. It is a black granite four-sided obelisk on a six-sided base with gold inlaid lettering. This particular memorial was unveiled on 18 August 2007. Around the base the words etched into that splendid memorial are 'mateship', 'courage', 'professionalism', 'loyalty', 'innovation', 'teamwork' and 'Lest we forget'.

These are words which sum up the wonderful dedication and commitment that our brave men and women put into the Vietnam campaign. This began when the first members of the team arrived in 1962, and they were followed by almost 60,000 Australians, including ground troops and Air Force and Navy personnel, who served until 1975.

It was Anzac Day, April 25 1975, when the last of the embassy staff were flown out of that particular conflict situation. It was Australia's longest involvement in any conflict. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political upheaval in Australia since the conscription debate of the Great War of 1914-18. Many soldiers, sadly, received a hostile reception on their return home. Group Captain Tony Checker of the Royal Australian Air Force base at Forest Hill, Wagga Wagga, made an address at this 50th commemoration service. He said: 'Under a clouded sky we remember a clouded war. Australia's involvement was contentious and vigorously debated.' He summed it up when he said, 'It is shameful that Australian soldiers had to wait until 1987 for their welcome home parade.' He was quite right: that is shameful.

The Riverina's contribution to the Vietnam War was significant. Many soldiers served from the Riverina and went to the Vietnam War, including 140 who listed their place of birth as Wagga Wagga. There were many others from the Riverina, too: there were 103 from Griffith; 29 from West Wyalong; 44 from Narrandera; 57 from Temora; 65 from Leeton; and from Gundagai there were 20, including a young lad by the name of Neil Anthony McInerney, who was killed in action in South Vietnam in 1968.

It was a tragic story which I recounted in my Anzac Day booklet this year. Private McInerney had been home from his active service only a month earlier to attend his father Barton's funeral. He left for Vietnam soon after. There were six children in the close-knit family—five boys and a girl—and losing two members in such a short space of time was, indeed, heart wrenching. That was the sacrifice that many families made so that they could serve their nation in Vietnam. Private McInerney had spent 195 days in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment before his death on 7 October. He was only 20 years old.

The mind boggles at the sacrifice of these young people, many of whom had been conscripted by a numbering system—a mere lottery—to go and place their lives on the line in the service of our nation and of people from another country. These were people they had never met and had perhaps only ever read about—maybe they had not even done that. They were conscripted to serve and they did so gallantly, bravely, courageously and with great sacrifice. Five hundred and twenty-one Australians died in the Vietnam conflict and more than 3,000 were injured, and the mental scars endure to this day. As long as there are Vietnam veterans about we will continue to remember the sacrifice made in Vietnam—indeed, long after the last Vietnam veteran has passed from this earth we will go on commemorating their wonderful service.

This is particularly prevalent in Wagga Wagga because it is the home of the soldier. Every recruit in the Australian Army does their initial training period at the Kapooka Military Base at Blamey Barracks, just outside Wagga Wagga. This city is also the home of a Navy base and a Royal Australian Air Force base. The military is very important to Wagga Wagga, as are the Vietnam veterans who so bravely served our country in its hour of need.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the previous speaker indicated, the intensity of the debate in this country about this war was at a level only seen previously in the First World War. Perhaps because our federal member, Tom Uren, who had been a prisoner of war, was one of the leaders of the war debate from the beginning, the area witnessed meetings with Jim Cairns, Gordon Bryant and others who initially were very unpopular in Australia due to their opposition. I have many recollections of that period—the demonstrations in Canberra against visiting Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, and the 1966 elections. I have never seen such intensity at the polling booth between the Labor Party and the Liberal Party in my political life. It really did nearly get to fisticuffs at the polling booth at that election. One thing that people do agree about is recognising the service of those people who did go to Vietnam.

Recently, in my electorate, President John MacDonald, Secretary John Lees and other members of the Vietnam Veterans Association again recognised this day. Each year they hold a dinner the week beforehand and then on the day have a very significant attendance of people. I think it is partly demographic. There are a few army bases nearby and the population profile and the settlement patterns mean that Vietnam veterans are particularly prevalent in that area. Over the years I have had the opportunity of being involved with other people who have been very active in this front. Granville, of course, is the centre of the Vietnam Veterans Federation, in 8 Mary Street Granville, where I previously had my state electoral office. Tim McCombe, of course, has received the Order of Australia for his work on that front. Equally, in Granville the RSL club has contributed and John Haines, the Vice President of the New South Wales Branch, has done so much as a Vietnam veteran to try to increase Australia-Vietnamese understanding and to basically help underprivileged people in Vietnam.

The local Macarthur branch has this event each year commemorating the 521 Australians who died and the 60,000 who served. This year John MacDonald spoke extremely well about the Australian Army Training Team's arrival in 1962, its work and its role as the harbinger of more extensive Australian participation in that war. Of course, the Vietnam Veterans Association has an important slogan: 'Honour the dead but fight like hell for the living,' perhaps does give their emphasis that they not only want to commemorate those who gave so much but to make sure in contemporary Australian society the issues are on our minds, whether it is post-traumatic stress disorder or, as the previous speaker on this side of the House spoke about, the question of health studies that not only look at the soldiers themselves but also their families. These are matters that the Macarthur branch does drive home. It is not only, of course, the Vietnam Veterans Association but the two local sub-branches at Ingleburn and Campbelltown. Ray James, through the Ingleburn branch, has been very active not only on this front with the Vietnam veterans but also in commemorating Korea and making sure that the memorial gardens and museum effort out there at Ingleburn are first-rate. So I want to join with the other speakers in recognising the heroic effort of the Australians at Long Tan against huge numbers, persevering and achieving so much, and I would like to join with other Australian groups that recognise this day each year.

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The day 18 August is a solemn day for this nation. It is a day when we pause to remember those who fought and died in the Vietnam War. Up until recently, the Vietnam War was the longest major conflict in which Australian troops were involved, although this has recently been overtaken by our commitment in Afghanistan. This is not a record we take any pleasure in, as no person in Australia wants to go war; however, unfortunately, there are times where we must stand up in our national interest and do what is right even if it is not what is desirable. We pay tribute today in this chamber to those that fought so hard and gave so much so that we can live in peace and freedom. I take the opportunity to honour all of those who have laid down their lives in service of our country and pay tribute to the families who have sacrificed so much.

The initial contribution from Australia to the Vietnam War was just 30 military advisers. But as the task grew, so did Australia's commitment, ultimately culminating in 60,000 troops being deployed. Of these, over 500 died and over 3,000 were wounded.

The date of 18 August was chosen to commemorate the Battle of Long Tan, which took place in 1966, in which 108 Australian and New Zealand troops managed to overcome the odds and defeat over 2,000 Viet Cong soldiers on a rubber plantation just outside the village of Long Tan.

The battle was marred by torrential rain and monsoon-like conditions. When the guns finally fell silent and both sides counted their losses, it became apparent that 18 Australians and over 245 Vietnamese had lost their lives. The Battle of Long Tan saw the largest loss of Australian life in a single operation.

Three years after the Battle of Long Tan, a cross was raised on the site of the conflict and the day was marked as Long Tan Day until ultimately, in 1987, the then government of the day renamed it Vietnam Veterans Day, to honour all those who died in the war.

The Vietnam War was a particularly brutal one for so many reasons, the main one being that it was the last time Australia practised compulsory conscription. It was also brutal because of the nature of the conflict, often fought in the most extreme conditions, deep in the rainforest and largely guerrilla in nature. It was also brutal because many soldiers who returned to civilian life found it particularly difficult, through no fault of their own, to integrate back into the community.

I join with a number of speakers, who have already mentioned this in the chamber, in saying that the way in which we treated our returned soldiers who served our country in the Vietnam War was a national disgrace. It is a lesson for all of us: in no way will this shame ever be repeated. We must not ignore, nor underestimate, the work and the service that those men and women gave to our country, just as we also recognise the continued work and service that so many of our RSLs around the nation do.

In my electorate of Higgins I am very fortunate to have a number of very impressive and very active RSLs—the Prahran RSL, headed up by Rod Coote, with secretary, Noel Sanderson; the East Malvern RSL, with president Ken Johnson and secretary Terry Panton; Toorak RSL, with president Peter Stokes and secretary Harry Moyle; and the Oakleigh-Carnegie RSL, with president Hugh Gordon.

I am particularly attached to all of my RSLs, but I am a member of two in particular, having been a member for a period of the Melbourne University Regiment. The two RSLs that I am very involved in are the Prahran RSL, of which I am a patron, and the East Malvern RSL. I want to pay particular tribute to Rod Coote, who is the president of the Prahran RSL, and also secretary Noel Sanderson. That RSL went through some very difficult times. Both of these men served in the Vietnam War and they took it upon themselves to revive that RSL and to preserve its great history. They have done that in the most splendid and magnificent fashion. It has now become a focal point for our local community of Prahran. I want to pay tribute to them not only for the very hard work that they were involved in in engaging with the community but also for the very significant welfare work that they do for so many of our returned veterans.

The volunteer nature of Australians is what binds us as a society and, as I said before, our RSLs play a very significant part in being the glue that binds our neighbourhoods into communities. We must always protect and nurture this wonderful Australian tradition so that it is always encouraged and respected.

Again, I would like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to those who laid down their life in the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August and to all of those who served our nation in the Vietnam War and for the sacrifices that their family members made for us so that we may live in peace in this country.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a statement on indulgence. It has been 50 years since the start of the Vietnam War and 40 years since it ended. As each year passes the Vietnam War becomes more distant. At a guess, half of the Australian population was not even born until the war had ended.

With each passing year we lose more of the Australian solders who served in Vietnam. As other speakers have said, it was a war in which many Australians opposed our involvement.

The war was justified at the time by a campaign of fear of the Red Peril moving southwards, along with a simultaneous struggle for supremacy between the United States and the then Soviet Union. Hindsight can be very revealing where in the absence of emotion, fear, prejudice and self-interest past events can be judged more objectively and more rationally. For those who served Australia in Vietnam such reflections and judgements are academic. Our soldiers carried out their duties and they served their country. Vietnam veterans will forever carry with them the brutality, horror and psychological scars of war, as do the soldiers who served before them, those who served after them and those who continue to serve Australia today.

History has shown that Australian soldiers were not treated well on their return from the Vietnam War. In more recent years several steps have been taken to acknowledge and correct the wrongs of the past. As a result, Vietnam veterans are today more widely receiving the rightful recognition they deserve. The commemoration of Vietnam Veterans Day on 18 August each year is perhaps the most significant public display of our nation's gratitude to the Australians who served in the Vietnam War. Over 500 Australians died in Vietnam, 59 from my home state of South Australia. Of course, 18 August is also the commemorative date of the Battle of Long Tan, a battle that reinforced the Australian characteristics of valour, courage, mateship and true grit that emerged in Gallipoli half a century earlier.

Over the decade-long war there was no shortage of acts of bravery but the Battle of Long Tan holds a particular significance given the extraordinary odds the Australian regiment prevailed over and the number of casualties that resulted. The background to the Battle of Long Tan is that in the early hours of the morning of 17 August 1966 the Australian operations base at Nui Dat was fired upon by Vietcong. On 18 August 105 Australians and a three-man New Zealand artillery team were sent into the Long Tan rubber plantation under heavy machine gun fire and mortar attacks from Vietcong forces estimated to be over 1,500 and possibly up to 2,500 troops. Australia suffered a loss of 17 lives in the battle and a further death of the result of wounds. An additional 21 soldiers were wounded. This comprised around one-third of the number of overall Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were engaged in a battle. It is estimated that the Vietcong forces lost some 245 lives in the battle as well as over 350 casualties. Long Tan is one of those events where the soldiers who were present emerged with mixed emotions—perhaps a tear of joy knowing that they had survived a terrible ordeal and a tear of sadness knowing that 18 of their mates would not return home.

In my own community the Battle of Long Tan has become the rallying point for Vietnam veterans in the area. A short distance from my home in Pooraka a memorial has been established in Henderson Square in the Montague Farm estate to commemorate Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. Each year on 18 August a memorial service is held at Henderson Square to acknowledge our soldiers who served in Vietnam and to remember those who lost their lives or were injured. Other than when I have been here in Canberra, I have attended each of those services, as I did again this year. Once again the Montague Farm memorial service was supported by the Salisbury Council, children from Mawson Lakes Primary School and the Pooraka Neighbourhood Centre. I particularly thank Nicola Kapitza from the City of Salisbury for her input into organising the service and Heather Hewitt and her team from the Pooraka Neighbourhood Centre for hosting the luncheon refreshments after the service. The presence and poetry from the Mawson Lakes Primary schoolchildren were also heartening because it tells me the children are interested in what happened in the past and that the Vietnam story will be passed on through them to future generations.

The next morning, Sunday, 19 August, as I have also done in the past years, I attended the Vietnam Veterans' Day service in Adelaide at the Torrens parade ground where a state memorial in memory of those who served in Vietnam now also stands.

The service was lead by Mr Harley Doyle, Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia state vice-president, with an address by Premier Jay Weatherill and a wonderful rendition of Amazing Grace by Linda McCarthy. A special feature of the Adelaide service was the inclusion in the parade and the service of an Australian Vietnamese contingent, reflecting the joint efforts of Australian and Vietnamese people in the war. Following the service, a day with activities and entertainment was organised to make it a family day for all those who attended. A week later, on Saturday, 25 August, I also attended the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service held at the Tea Tree Gully Memorial Gardens. That had been organised by the Tea Tree Gully RSL. This is the second year that the Tea Tree Gully RSL has organised the service, and it is hoped that this service will also become an annual event.

Through the numerous Vietnam veterans activities that I have been associated with over the years, I have come to know many Vietnam veterans as personal friends. They are good people whom I have the utmost respect for. They have served Australia and honoured their fallen mates, and they do their best to get on with their lives after Vietnam.

Once again this year, a group of Vietnam veterans embarked on their walk for charity. This year, the walk was from Bublacowie on the Southern Yorke Peninsula to Adelaide via Clare and Kapunda and was the first walk for charity through the major farming areas of Yorke Peninsula. This was the fourth walk the group had organised, having previously walked from Port Augusta to Adelaide twice and once from Renmark to Adelaide. The purpose of the walk for charity is twofold. Firstly, to raise funds for the Legacy Club of Adelaide, the Vietnam Veterans Long Tan bursaries and the Foundation Daw Park, which is the fundraising arm of the Repatriation General Hospital. Secondly, it is to raise awareness of and to promote a healthier lifestyle for Vietnam veterans. The unavoidable effects of age are now preventing many of the veterans from participating in the walk and this year may have been the last of the organised charity walks.

I will also take this opportunity to acknowledge the recent deaths in Afghanistan of Sapper James Martin, Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate, Lance Corporal Mervyn McDonald and Private Nathanael Galagher and to offer my condolences to the family and colleagues of each of those soldiers. As with every Defence person, each of those soldiers served Australia without questioning the rights or wrongs of the war. It particularly saddens me that three of those Australians were killed by a cowardly person whom they trusted and whom they would have risked their own lives for.

Finally, yesterday I attended the annual charter lunch of the para sub-branch of the National Servicemen's Association. The proceedings commenced with a roll call of branch members who had passed away in recent years. It was a sobering moment for those present, knowing that so many of their mates have now passed on. It was, however, equally comforting to know that their colleagues had not forgotten them. As with the Vietnam vets, I have had a long association with the Nashos and I very much appreciate the genuine friendship I have with so many of them.

This motion is about remembering the Australians who served in Vietnam. As we do that, we remember all of those people in Australia who have served in our defence forces and continue to serve in our defence forces. It is perhaps one of the very special parts of our society where Australians serve. I do not think there would be another sector quite like it. It is understandable that the mateship you see amongst them is so strong, and it is understandable that we as a nation should show our respects and our appreciation for the service they give to this country through motions such as this. I commend the motion to the House.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also wish to rise today to support the comments of previous speakers and to support the motion. I am speaking today on the Prime Minister's statement on Vietnam Veterans Day, which on 18 August this year commemorated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Australian troops in Vietnam.

This year, only a few weeks ago, I had the great honour of paying tribute to Australian Vietnam veterans, along with Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, in Anzac Square, Brisbane. I would like to particularly mention and note the fantastic work that is being done by Mr John Smith, the president of the Queensland branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association, who organised the ceremony. John is based in Burpengary, but I see him at a number of Vietnam Veterans Association functions all throughout Brisbane, and a few months back, on the south side of Brisbane, we had the honour of attending a Vietnamese dinner, which some 400 people attended as well. I want to thank John for the incredible advocacy work that he does, and though he is situated in the electorate of my colleague the member for Longman his work extends far and wide.

The association do a great deal of advocacy work. They provide support to those who need veterans' affairs assistance and they continually lend a helping hand to members of the returned service community that need assistance. Just recently, I had the pleasure of having a look at a submission that John had made to improve the facilities where they meet—to put solar panels in and to improve the clubhouse and the headquarters of the Vietnam Veterans Association. His tireless work really should be put on the record, and I commend him and the association for all the wonderful work that they do.

It is very fitting that we honour Vietnam veterans, and particularly Vietnam Veterans Day as a special day on our nation's calendar, where we recognise the 521 men who paid the supreme sacrifice on active duty in the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972.

The particular parade that I just spoke about was very moving for a number reasons. There were a number of speeches that told about how Vietnam veterans were treated—the scorn, the derision—and how some politicians of the day treated them appallingly. It is something that we must never ever do. I heard, quite literally, first-hand accounts of many of the service men and women, and the pain is something that has stayed with them for many years. We really need to respect and honour them. It is good to see that we have given them the respect and the honour that they deserve. They are a proud part of our Anzac heritage, but as I said, sadly that respect was not given to them upon their return from conflict.

Australian troops were first sent to Vietnam in 1962 and the numbers increased over a 10-year period that saw more than 58,000 serving in the conflict by the end of the war. Vietnam Veterans Day also marks the anniversary of one of Australia's most iconic battles of Vietnam, the Battle of Long Tan. The Battle of Long Tan is best remembered as a classic Australian struggle against a much bigger enemy, and we really need to commend the 108 men of D Company, 6RAR who fought a much bigger and much stronger opponent to win the day and to be nationally and internationally recognised for their tenacity, their courage and their bravery under fire.

I want to make mention of the number of RSL clubs in my electorate, and particularly the United Service Club, which is housed at Wickham Terrace in one of Brisbane's most historic buildings. It is a fine club, and I want to pay tribute to the number of meetings that are held there. Particularly also, I want to acknowledge the Clayfield Sub-Branch, under the stewardship of former senator Bill O'Chee. He would probably have to be one of the youngest presidents that the club has ever known, but he throws himself into his duties with such vigour and such diligence. The Clayfield Sub-Branch also does a lot of community work, particularly with the schools in our area, to make sure that the young schoolchildren of today know of the history and can pay respect to the fine men and women who served in the past. So I want to commend Bill.

Sadly, in January, we had a fire at one of the schools, Eagle Junction School, and one of the beautiful stained-glass windows in the library had been donated by returned servicemen and women.

I was recently with the principal, Principal Justine Botell, and she proudly displayed this wonderful window that had been saved—the stained-glass window that had been given to the school from returned servicemen who had served in Changi. It was wonderful to see that stained-glass window restored to its original position. The veterans' community plays an enormous part, and I want to acknowledge the great work that they do with the Vietnam veterans, particularly the active work in this area.

A fine tradition continues today, but so does the risk that our troops undertake in the name of this great country of ours. Just recently we lost three fine men who were based at the Enoggera Army barracks in my electorate. Much has been said in this place and will continue to be said in paying tribute to our Vietnam veterans and to all of the defence men and women who have lost their lives in the service of our nation—and, quite rightly, much more needs to said in their honour. No words that I say today can express the incredible sacrifice that they have made. No words are adequate to express the pride we should have in the honour that they have bestowed upon Australia. They should not be forgotten. Lest we forget.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to associate myself with the contributions made by all honourable members. I worked for many years in the Department of Veterans' Affairs before I came to this place and I knew many Vietnam veterans. I saw their medical histories and particularly those of veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and I saw the impact on them personally and also their families. I honour the 521 veterans who died and I pay tribute to their defence of our country and the price that they paid so that we can enjoy our freedom today. I thank all honourable members.