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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-25 Daily Xml
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VIETNAM VETERANS DAY

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:22): I rise to speak today about an event I attended on 17 August, which was the remembrance event at Henderson Square, Montague Farm Estate, for Vietnam Veterans' Remembrance Day (or Long Tan Day) with my local community and veterans' groups. The ceremony is a commemoration of the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966, just before I was born, and the Australian service members who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

I have the utmost respect for our veterans who have served in this war and particularly for the people I have met in my own electorate. Indeed, the Vietnam Veterans Association northern sub-branch is based opposite the Edinburgh base and I often visit the men and women who congregate there for barbecues and fellowship.

This particular annual service, which I have attended before, was a very memorable day. Normally we have it outside, but this day the storms were threatening and we were forced to go inside the local community centre. Joining us at the event, along with many of the families who remember the stories from that time, were the Vietnam Veterans Association northern sub-branch's Pieter (Pedro) Dawson and Ian Le'Raye, who I work with, the Salisbury RSL, the Mawson Lakes Primary School, the Pooraka Farm Community Centre team, TAFE SA, the City of Salisbury, local veteran community members from all around the state and residents of Montague Farm.

This day is the result of a project that commenced several years ago and it is a good example of community cooperation and of what schools and the community can do in teaching the next generation about the history of the battle. This project was originally established with TAFE and the City of Salisbury to create something memorable in the area that is long running. It aims to bring together the Montague Farm Estate street signs, which I will talk about briefly in a second, public artwork (Seeds of Attainment), which are still being progressed through the City of Salisbury, the Pooraka Farm Community Centre commemorative garden and the website documentation of the project.

It really is a special opportunity for the community to come together on this day. Many of the people who live there know the significance of many of the people who died and are mentioned on their street signs such as Abraham Street after Signaller Dennis Abraham who was killed in action on 29 September 1968, Raffen Court after Sergeant Francis Raffen who was killed in action on 7 August 1970, and Norley Place after Lance Corporal Graham Norley who was killed in action on 26 January 1968.

All of these people died making commitments to this country and trying to free Vietnam in a very difficult circumstance in which they had no choice. They were national servicemen and volunteers. It is still something that is very personal and recollected by many people I meet in the community in the north and this day is very important to them. I pay my respects to them here in the house and will continue to represent their interests as veterans through this state and federally.

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