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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-30 Daily Xml
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Fall of Saigon Anniversary

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:51): Fifty years ago today tanks rolled into Saigon, and that marked the moment that the Republic of Vietnam's capital fell to the communists and really, I think, was a moment that shook the world. That moment marked the end of two decades of pretty brutal conflict. It also reflected the conclusion of any democratic rule within the sovereign nation of South Vietnam.

Back home, the Vietnam War, it is fair to say, was a nation-defining conflict. It was a nation-defining conflict because it was fought in the years after the war that was termed the war to end all wars. It was fought just years after the conflict in Korea, and it again demonstrated a commitment and a willingness of our nation, Australia, to fight for what is just, to stand shoulder to shoulder with those in Vietnam who fought for democracy and stood for freedom and for many of the things that we take for granted today and we are going to do this weekend.

More than 50,000 serving Australians never returned from the battlefield, including many South Australians whose loss I know is still felt by so many here today. We also, I think, as a nation, have much to learn from the way that we welcomed home those who did serve. We should reflect on that shameful part of our history, but we should also probably recognise and build on the lessons that we can learn from that.

The cost of this conflict to the Vietnamese people is beyond comprehension. More than four million people were killed or wounded in the course of the war. But the fall of Saigon did not just end the brutality for so many people in South Vietnam. We know that the introduction of the communist oppression in South Vietnam brought a new regime of cruelty and oppression for so many innocent people and indeed families, which is why, of course, over two million people from South Vietnam sought refuge in places that were to become their homelands.

That brings us back to Australia. I believe that we as a nation, and indeed South Australia as a state, define ourselves by the safety, the refuge and the hope that we can and that we did provide to the tens of thousands who fled South Vietnam and found our shores, the safety and the refuge we provided to those who now call South Australia home, those refugees who sought nothing more than freedom of speech, freedom of association and that fundamental freedom of safety.

So today is about more than just commemorating. Today is a day when we must commit ourselves to action. Whilst I think it is proper and important to recognise the service, to recognise the loss, to recognise the trauma and to recognise the fall of Saigon, we must also commit ourselves to continuing to pursue unequivocally the same ideals that took us to Vietnam in the first place, the same ideals that took Vietnam itself to conflict; that is, the pursuit of democratic ideals and democratic freedoms.

Today, I shared the great honour of attending the commemoration services marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and it was so good to see so many, and a broad spectrum, of my parliamentary colleagues, including the Premier and the opposition leader and, indeed, the Hon. Tung Ngo, attend the service with me today. I want to thank Mr Nguyen, the President of the Republic of Vietnam Veterans Association of South Australia, and Ms Quin Tran, President of the Vietnamese Community in South Australia, for extending the invitation to today's service.

Today is the day that we reflect on the profound loss, the profound sorrow and remembrance, but it is also a day that I believe reminds us of the strength of the human spirit, of courage in the face of severe adversity, of resilience in the face of loss, of hope amidst the greatest of tragedies, which is the loss of what you call home. But the finding of a new home perhaps brings us to say, 'Lest We Forget'.

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