BATTLE OF LONG TAN

Adjourned debate on motion of Ms Bedford:

That this house acknowledges the 46^th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan and recognises the extraordinary efforts of D Company 6 RAR and supporting arms and services and all who served in Australia's deployment to Vietnam.

(Continued from 1 March 2012.)

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (12:28): I rise to support this motion. In a war that lasted for more than a decade (1962-1973), the Vietnam conflict saw more than 50,000 Australians serve their country; 520 died and close to 2,400 were wounded. The selective conscription of 20-year-olds first held on 10 November 1964, was a divisive decision by the Australian government. Under the National Service Scheme, 'Nashos', as they were known, numbered more than 19,000. My mother recalls very clearly that two young men the same age as her had their birthdates drawn in the conscription lottery—only one came home.

The four-hour-long Battle of Long Tan was the single bloodiest episode of the Vietnam War. It was a defining and pivotal event in Australia's longest war and it was one of the most intensive actions Australian soldiers fought in Vietnam. On 18 August 1966, just over 100 Australians faced 2,500 enemy soldiers. D Company 6 RAR, cut off and outnumbered, withstood repeated attacks. Many of the Australian soldiers were conscripts, barely out of their teens. The bravery and tenacity of the Australian soldiers during the battle became legendary.

Eighteen young Australians lost their lives, and 24 were wounded. Of those who died, the youngest was 19 years old and the oldest was 22. Eleven were national servicemen and seven were regular Army. Those who made the ultimate sacrifice and are on the Long Tan honour roll are: Richard Aldersea, Kenneth Gant, James Houston, Albert McCormack, Douglas Salverton, Francis Topp, Peter Clements, Ernest Grant, Jack Jewry, Dennis McCormack, Gordon Sharp, Maxwell Wales, Glenn Drabble, Victor Grice, Paul Large, Warren Mitchell, David Thomas and Collin Whiston. To commemorate the Battle of Long Tan and the Vietnam War, Vietnam Veterans' Day is celebrated on 18 August each year.

Mr Pengilly: Commemorated, not celebrated.

Ms BETTISON: Sorry, commemorated. Thank you. It is an opportunity to honour those Australians who served during the Vietnam War and remember those who died. On 18 August 2011, a Vietnam Remembrance Day Memorial Service was held at Henderson Reserve, Montague Farm, in Pooraka. Significantly, Salisbury council has named all the local roads in Montague Farm after fallen SA Vietnam heroes.

In the northern suburbs, we have two Vietnam veterans' groups: the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, Northern Suburbs Sub Branch and the Ex-Military Rehabilitation Centre. There are around 300 veterans living in the northern suburbs. These groups provide facilities, support and rehabilitation for veterans. I had the opportunity to visit the Peter Badcoe VC Complex in Edinburgh Parks and spend time with the Vietnam Veterans Association of the Northern Suburbs. I thank Peter (Pedro) Dawson for his hospitality.

The experience of Vietnam veterans and the difficulties they faced upon return to Australia teach us an important lesson. No matter what your personal views on a war and beliefs about its legitimacy, it is important to support those who serve our country. Our servicemen and servicewomen make the ultimate sacrifice for our country and, for this, they should always be supported. I wish all the Australian Defence Force personnel on overseas missions a safe return to Australia. Lest we forget.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (12:33): I am very pleased and proud to support this motion. I commend the member for bringing it to the house. I know she is genuinely committed to and concerned about our Vietnam veterans, and I welcome the contribution of other members. I am particularly pleased to speak to it because my first battalion as a young officer graduating from the Royal Military College was the 6^th Battalion 1 Platoon A Company. Serving in the battalion at the time were a number of Long Tan veterans, including the CSM of D Company at the time, Bob Buick, who had been in the battle.

I can attest to the house that it is a battalion very proud of its heritage and its history and very proud of the men who fought in its name during this great battle, the details of which have been given by other members. We know the key facts. It was August; it was 1966. It involved the death of 18 fantastic young Australians and the death of a very significantly larger number of the enemy, as was so often the case. It was the largest loss of life in a single action in the Vietnam War and the battle was indeed like no other.

I want to say to the house that the Royal Australian Regiment, a very proud regiment, was born after World War II on the basis of those who had served during World War II and World War I. It was interesting that, as a new regiment, it did not carry with it the same battle honours and traditions of the World War II and World War I battalions, which are actually carried by reserve units now.

The Royal Australian Regiment, apart from its role occupying Japan post World War II, was first sent into battle in Korea, then later in Borneo and the Malaysian emergency, and then of course Vietnam and, as it goes on now, to Afghanistan, Timor, Iraq and so on. This battle forms a very significant part of its history and therefore the Australian military story.

There were other great battles during the Vietnam conflict—Coral-Balmoral and a number of other very serious engagements by the Royal Australian Regiment, not to mention the training team and others—but this particular battle was very significant indeed. It involved the sad death of the best part of an entire platoon in D Company, including the platoon commander, who was shot with a bullet to the head in the opening minutes of the engagement. Of course, there were far more wounded because it not only involved the battalion but also the cavalry and other units within the Task Force.

This force was on its way to attack the Australian base at Nui Dat. I ask members to reflect on what might have happened had it not been intercepted by the effective patrol work of the 6^th Battalion. This extremely large force may well have been in a position to launch a deliberate attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat with complete surprise. Had that occurred, you would have been counting the bodies in the hundreds of dead and possibly far more wounded. It would have been an absolute catastrophe for this nation.

It is only because of the effective patrolling techniques and security arrangements put in place by the Australians that this force was intercepted by D Company, that it was engaged in the rubber well away from the Task Force base and that they were able to deal with the threat well away from the vulnerable targets at the Task Force base. That would have included logistics units and those not properly prepared—and it would have been a catastrophe. So, although this was a disaster, it was a disaster that put to rest what could have been an even greater disaster had the Australians not fought so bravely.

I want to make some comments about Vietnam veterans in general. I have worked with hundreds of them, and I want to say on behalf of the house that these are people we should respect—and we should tell them so. The particular difficulty that Vietnam veterans had when they came home, including those who returned from battles such as Long Tan, was that there was plenty of guts but there was no glory.

Unlike World War I and unlike World War II these men did not come home to a hero's welcome. They were even rejected by members of the RSL and other veterans who had fought in World War I and World War II. They did not receive the sort of community embrace that others had received who have gone before them—their fathers and grandfathers. In fact, they were rejected on their return.

Although I was not a Vietnam veteran (the war ended before I finished my training), all who were serving at the time—I started serving in 1970 as a reservist and then at RMC in early 1972—were caught up in it. I remember receiving orders not to go into town in uniform. I remember seeing the attacks on our soldiers during parades through the city where blood was thrown on them as they walked down the street. They were called baby killers and abused in the most horrid way. That was encouraged by certain political leaders in this country. It was actively encouraged—and those people stand in shame.

The lesson we learnt from that experience was: do not blame the soldiers and do not take a political opportunity out of the government of the day by using our soldiers as a battering ram to make a political point. I think if there is one lesson from the Vietnam experience that is it. So whatever may come in the future, all of us, regardless of party or regardless of our place in the political process, must remember that lesson.

These men will soon become the old and bold of our veterans' community. We have said farewell to the last of the World War I veterans; within a decade we may well say goodbye to the last of the World War II veterans. Members will know, as they visit their RSLs, that World War II veterans are already few and far between; there are very few who are not in their 90s. The Vietnam veterans are soon to become the old and bold, as I joked with many of them on ANZAC Day last week, and reminded them of how aged they were looking and getting.

Interestingly, I understand that the presidency of the local RSL in this state is about to be handed over from Jock Statton, who has done the job superbly as a Vietnam veteran, to Tim Hanna, who will be the first of the post-Vietnam generation to take charge of the RSL. It is also interesting that just a few years ago there was a change of the guard when the Vietnam veterans around the country started to take over, and we can already see now that the younger generation is coming through.

I make this point: when you are a soldier fighting for your country in a battle like the Battle of Long Tan or the Battle of Passchendaele or El Alamein, or any of the other great battles in which we have been involved, you make the same sacrifice and you fight for the same flag, you fight for the same nation, and you fight with the same spirit in your heart. We must all remember that. That is why as politicians we must always remember the quality of that sacrifice.

The point was made to me on ANZAC Day that it has been interesting to observe the change in community attitudes towards ANZAC Day, and the way it is celebrated more now than it was in the seventies and eighties. My response to that is that when we welcomed home the Vietnam veterans I think there was a shift in community attitudes in Australia, not only towards them but towards the ANZAC tradition as a whole. I think that the welcoming home of the Vietnam vets was very significant, and this motion is part of that welcoming home. I commend the member for bringing it to the house, and I look forward to its swift passage.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:43): I am also very happy to support this motion. I think it is most appropriate, and I do not want to go back over much of what has been very well said in this place this morning.

My understanding is that I have some 700 veterans in my electorate, and at 2 o'clock every Thursday afternoon the South Coast Vietnam veterans meet down at Victor Harbor and have a cup of coffee. Whenever possible I join them, and they bend my ear without fail. We usually have quite a good time and discuss a few issues of importance, because what is relative to myself—which is borne out of the member for Florey's motion—is very much the Vietnam War.

Like many others in here I am the progeny of World War II veterans, and also like many others in here the grandchild of World War I veterans. On ANZAC Day I recall I was talking to some people about when I first came to boarding school, and the Boer War veterans were still marching. I can still see the marching down Rundle Street in the first couple of years. They were very old men then, in their 80s. Then, a couple of years after that, most of them who were left were in Land Rovers and whatnot.

However, it is absolutely critical that we do remember those events, which are now a long time ago. I can recall quite clearly the coverage on the television and in The Advertiser in the days following Long Tan, and the fact that we as Australians were absolutely staggered that we had lost those numbers in that battle on that day. It is of critical importance that it remains well and truly on the historical record. It will never go away, and as the member for Waite pointed out, they will soon be the old and the bold.

They are an interesting generation of men and they come back to me very clearly. I have some good friends, have had good friends for years who are Vietnam vets. My number never rolled up in the ballot. It never came up, so I did not do national service. What took place on that battlefield so long ago was, as has been said, of critical importance. It was a real victory for the Australian Army and those who supported it, and we should never forget that.

I congratulate the member for Florey on putting this motion before the house. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it will receive unanimous support and go down in the Hansard, so in 100 years if someone picks up the Hansard in this place (assuming we have not been written off as a parliament), they will see the record of what was said in relation to the member for Florey's motion on this day and on others. I take great delight in supporting the motion.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (12:46): I too rise in the house this afternoon to speak in support of the motion that the member for Florey has brought to the parliament and I also speak in my role as the shadow minister for veterans' affairs. I commend the member for Florey for bringing the matter to the house, as other members have already stated in this place today.

As a bit of background information, the Battle of Long Tan took place on 18 August 1966, during Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. It is my understanding that the battle was fought between Australian forces and the Vietcong in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan. The battle involved D Company of the 6^th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, which is known as 6 RAR. D Company 6 RAR was heavily outnumbered, yet fought a very large Vietcong assault. The Australian soldiers numbered just 108, while there were estimated to be up to 2,500 Vietcong soldiers fighting.

Tragically, 18 Australians were killed in the battle, but I understand that 245 Vietcong were also killed. The Battle of Long Tan was the largest loss of Australian life in a single action in the Vietnam War. The battle was reportedly like no other, as it occurred in monsoonal rains amongst the trees and bushes within this rubber plantation, where the Australian soldiers were outnumbered approximately 26:1. I want to put on the record, as other members have done, the heroism of the Australian soldiers who fought at the Battle of Long Tan, stopped the enemy attacking the nearby Australian Task Force Base and enabled the security of the Phuoc Tuy province to be maintained.

I have not had the opportunity to listen to the contributions of other members. I had other duties this morning, but I understand from talking to the member for Waite about this particular issue that, when he entered the Army as a young soldier, this was the first regiment that he joined, the 6^th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment. The member for Waite, having had a distinguished career in the Defence Force, particularly the Army, has a very good and very clear knowledge and understanding of issues relating to these types of matters. While I only heard the last part of his contribution, I look forward to reading it in the Hansard.

I place on record that we acknowledge the service that all our defence forces provide to our Australian community, in the nation and overseas, right through their long and distinguished history since the inception of the Australian defence forces. Again, I congratulate the motion brought to the house by the member for Florey.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:50): I only wish to speak briefly. I have no personal family connection with the battle, but I have had the great honour of attending functions to recognise the Battle of Long Tan in my electorate, in association with Vietnam veterans' groups, the RSL and, indeed, the Bublacowie Military Museum, which is at the bottom of Yorke Peninsula. I want to talk about the Bublacowie one that I attended three years ago.

I was asked to speak and to speak specifically about Australian defence forces that have been involved in peacekeeping missions around the world in the last 115 years or so. While I could relate the information that I had managed to find about that, the thing that really moved me that day was to see the Vietnam veterans there paying respect to their cobbers. There is a march-in that occurs as part of the ceremony before anyone speaks at all. The Vietnam vets walk in proudly with their medals on their chest and, no matter what level of personal ailment or affliction they have, they walk in proudly, respecting their cobbers.

I thank the member for Florey for, in bringing this motion before us, she has made all of us consider that terrible day, 18 August, so many years ago and the impact it had upon Australia at that time with the high loss of life of 18 brave young men; but still, all of us who are in this chamber, who reflect upon the sacrifices of the past, should indeed be proud.

War is a terrible thing, but you have to be proud of the commitment that we as a nation have made and proud of the commitment that those 108 brave Australians made in facing such an overwhelming force and what they managed to achieve. The fact that this motion is before the house shows that there is still a level of pride and respect that exists for all Australians who have served our country on so many occasions over the last 110 years. I look forward to the swift passage of the motion through the house, and I think that all of us should reflect upon the fact that we are here only because of the sacrifices made by those in the past.

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (12:52): I give my commendation to the member for Florey as well for raising this important memorial and the Battle of Long Tan in this parliament. On Sunday this week, I participated in this 37^th commemoration of the fall of Saigon with the Vietnamese Veterans' Association and the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia, alongside many people of the northern suburbs and throughout our state, at the Torrens Parade Ground, with the communities that fought side by side during that battle.

I know, from the way they were speaking after the commemoration—which was a very moving event and the first one which combined both associations—of the importance of this battle in this war and to the veterans who participated in that war on behalf of Australians, even though it was a very controversial war. Those veterans still feel today many of the after-effects of that battle and the battles for Vietnam.

Having the Edinburgh base in my electorate, and also having the Peter Badcoe Centre and the Northern Vietnam Veterans' Association located in the Edinburgh precinct, which is one of the areas I look after in Taylor, the importance of this motion is sorely felt in the north. I commend the member for Florey for bringing it before the house and I pay my respects to the men and women, who were nurses as well in the battle, who fought for our country and did not necessarily have a choice but did what they had to do for all of us.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (12:54): I want to thank all members for their contributions today, particularly my colleagues on this side who were talking about the Vietnamese perspective of the conflict. I think we all have a greater understanding and appreciation of the Vietnam War and the contribution of our soldiers. Even if people do not support conflict, I think it is important to understand that we will always support our men and women of the defence services. They fight not only for us but for right, and they support people in other countries in their struggles.

One such person was Lieutenant Colonel Vu, who was killed in a house fire in Ridleyton in April this year at the age of 92. His wife was injured in the same fire, and I am indebted to Bill Denny for this information. Lieutenant Colonel Vu was a respected military officer of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He joined the army in the 1960s and served until the defeat of the South Vietnamese government by the communists in 1975. It is understood that he served on the headquarters of the ARVN in Saigon.

After the war, he was sent to a re-education camp where he suffered great deprivation. He was nearly 60 years of age and the conditions in re-education camps were extremely hard. Upon his release, Lieutenant Colonel Vu, undaunted, sought a better life for his wife and daughter and fled by boat for Australia. Sadly, Lieutenant Colonel Vu and Mrs Vu lost their daughter to cancer shortly after they arrived here. The ex-service community is pleased that Australia was able to give Lieutenant Colonel Vu solace and peace in his latter years. As the numbers of Vietnamese soldiers who march grows, it is good to hear those stories as well, to put into greater context what happened.

I want to finish off with some other information that was printed in The Advertiser earlier this year in an article by Ian McPhedran. He spoke of a fellow called Bob Grandin, who was 25 years old in the RAFF. He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, with a wife and young son, when he undertook a 'suicide mission' on 18 August in 1966. He was the co-pilot of one of the two 9 Squadron Iroquois 'Huey' helicopters that had flown entertainers Little Pattie and Col Joye into the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat from Vung Tau for the concert.

I only have three minutes so I will not be able to tell you the whole story, but he and another pilot, Frank, were given the task to drop ammunition to our soldiers who were badly in need of ammunition in the Battle of Long Tan. As they lifted their machines off from Nui Dat, there was a massive thunderstorm, which we know completely blanketed the battlefield, and the only way they could fly in was to look between their feet at the jungle canopy.

They guided the second machine flown by Cliff Dohle and Bruce Lane into the drop zone, where the soldiers in the back of the chopper kicked out the ammo boxes. So, they were in thunderous rain in a battlefield and they dropped in a couple of boxes of ammo to keep our men alive. Bob says, 'I had no idea if we were taking fire or not, the rain was that intense that we could not hear or see anything...In fact I think the storm saved our lives...'. On the ground, the D Company diggers, led by Major Harry Smith MG, retrieved the ammo boxes and continued the fight. We know that, without that ammo, they would never have got through.

We also know from this story that Governor-General Quentin Bryce travelled to Brisbane to present a Unit Citation for Gallantry to Delta Company veterans and a Meritorious Unit Citation to today's 6^th Battalion for its work in Afghanistan. She also presented several individual awards, including to Long Tan veteran Dave Sabben and two medals for gallantry to serving 6 RAR diggers. This is a long-overdue recognition of the work that the men did that day.

I thank everyone for their contributions. I look forward to sending this motion to the people to whom it is made so that they can understand how much we do really appreciate what they did.

Motion carried.

[Sitting suspended from 12:58 to 14:00]