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

I rise to speak about the government's failure to bring justice to the more than 450 doctors, nurses and anaesthetists who served as members of the SEATO civilian surgical medical teams that operated in Vietnam between 1964 and 1972. These volunteers all suffered the hardships of war while tending to the wounded and should not be denied repatriation benefits similar to those provided to ADF personnel serving in Vietnam during the same period. Because these volunteers were not technically under the control of the ADF but under the control of the Department of External Affairs, they have been denied justice for more than four decades. This is despite the fact that these civilians were awarded the Active Service Medal for working in a warlike situation. Justice Mohr, in his report in 2000, found that these nurses:

…were integrated with the ADF and performed like functions.

The Weekend Australian has recently revealed a previously hidden document, which indicated a chain of command between the ADF and the hospital of Bien Hoa, where hundreds of Australian civilian medical staff were located at the time. The result of this bureaucratic blockade is that the physical pain these civilian volunteers have suffered, including lymphomas, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease disorders, multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder at higher rates than in the general community, has been compounded by the emotional anguish of being ignored by the government.

Dot Angell says that she is angry, very angry; Ted Kremer says that he feels betrayed; and Maureen Spicer says that she is outraged. I have met some of these brave people, including former senior nurse Caroline Coventry, who went with the first Alfred Hospital team to Vietnam in 1966 and is also a Kooyong constituent. I have taken up their case by writing to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Warren Snowdon, but to no avail.

Today, Mr Deputy Speaker, I give voice to their case in the parliament and join with such distinguished Australian military figures as General Cosgrove, who supports their case and calls for an act of grace by the government. As a former Vietnam veteran, General Cosgrove has said:

Very plainly, the men and women of the Vietnam surgical teams, there at the behest of the Australian government, were no more 'free agents' than was I.

It is never too late to right a wrong. I hope that an Australian government, whatever its political affiliation, can bring justice for these Australian patriots, who selflessly risked their lives to help others. In doing so, we will be not only properly dealing with our past but strengthening our future.