THE HON PETER DUTTON MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL
THE HON BARNABY JOYCE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
MR PHILLIP THOMPSON OAM, MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL
VIETNAM VETERANS’ DAY
In time honoured tradition on 18 August, we pause to remember all those Australians who fought and fell on foreign soil during the Vietnam War.
Between 1962 and 1973, some 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, more than 3,000 were wounded, and 523 were tragically killed.
Many Australians who served did so willingly, having enlisted in our defence force. But some 15,000 Australians were conscripted under the National Service Scheme.
For the soldiers, the conditions were exacting and exhausting. There were constant patrols, a ceaseless risk of ambush from local guerrillas, and ferocious close-quarter fighting with the enemy in jungles, mountains, swamps, rice paddies, rubber plantations and villages.
As the war waged, protests grew on the Australian home front – emulating those taking place around the world – driven by sentiments ranging from anti-conscription, to anti-war to anti-capitalism.
The protest movement of the time has come to dominate our national memory of the Vietnam War and overshadow the important historical context in which our nation made a military commitment to the conflict.
Following the end of the Second World War, an ‘iron curtain’ had descended across Europe. Countries and peoples had fallen under the Soviet sphere of influence. Berlin had been divided. A Warsaw Pact signed. An uprising crushed in Hungary. Communism had not only taken root in Europe, it was also on the march across the world.
In our own region, there was a fear that many nations in Southeast Asia would fall, like dominoes, to communism. As historian Peter Edwards noted, “in the ideological dimension of the Cold War, communist movements around the world gained inspiration and motivation from any success.”
While the Korean War had ended in stalemate, Allied involvement had halted the advance of communism at the 38th parallel. Moreover, Australia’s military commitment to the Malayan Emergency helped oppose a communist-led insurgency.
It was against this backdrop that Prime Minister Robert Menzies, in April 1965, specifically committed Australian combat troops to Vietnam for the purpose of supporting the Western-aligned South Vietnam to deter and repel the threat from communist Northern Vietnam.
Menzies said, “Whether an externally directed Communist guerrilla subversion is to succeed or fail has world wide consequence. It has particular consequence for Australia… The North Vietnamese must not take over South Vietnam by armed force or subversion.”
While Australia’s Alliance with the United States was a factor which influenced our entering the Vietnam War, we did not blindly follow America’s lead. Our combat commitment was a sovereign decision – one undertaken due to credible concerns, at the time, about the regional instability and threats to free peoples posed by communist regimes.
Peter Edwards makes the important point that, while we can only speculate what might have happened in our region if the communists had won in South Vietnam in 1965 instead of 1975 in the absence of Western involvement, “it is highly probable that the consequences would have been severe.”
Much to our national shame, Australian soldiers were derided while they were serving abroad and many were forsaken when they returned home from the war.
Even 51 years on from the end of the war, our Vietnam Veterans continue to be the target of abuse – this time from a new movement of protesters who vandalise our war memorials and illegally hang banners from Parliament House accusing our veterans of war crimes.
On this Vietnam Veterans’ Day, may we grasp the historical context and strategic reasons why Australia sent forces to Vietnam. For when we do, we shine a light on the ignorance of today’s protesters. We remember the meaning behind the suffering and sacrifice of all Australians who served in Vietnam. And we express to those 35,000 Vietnam Veterans who are still with us today our profound national gratitude for all they did for our country and in defence of our region.
18 August 2024