Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) 18 August is Vietnam Veterans' Day,

  (ii) the day marks 51 years since the Battle of Long Tan, where – led by the Tasmanian-born Commanding Officer of the D Company 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith SG MC – 108 Australians fought, 24 were wounded and 18 were killed,

  (iii) the day serves as an opportunity to commemorate more broadly the service of those 61 000 Australians who served in Vietnam, particularly the 521 who lost their lives and the 3 000 who were wounded, and their wives and families who have been left to care for them, and

  (iv) Australia's contribution to the Vietnam War was significant and costly, and these costs are still being experienced today; and

(b) calls on the federal government to work with all states and territories to:

  (i) reflect on the repeated failings of repeated governments to recognise and respect those who came home, and those who did not, and

  (ii) heed, in word and deed, the motto of the Vietnam Veterans Association, to "Honour the dead but fight like hell for the living".