Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Brisbane for his speech. I am going to touch on many of those issues in my contribution as well. Last month we had the honour of commemorating here in Canberra, and I in Ballarat, the services of some of Australia’s finest defence personnel—our Vietnam veterans. In honouring their contribution to our community today, I want to quote fairly extensively from a speech given by Bill Wallace at the commemorations in Ballarat. I think it is one of the best speeches I have heard from a Vietnam veteran about their experiences of the war. Bill says of the war:

For the first time in Australian History a war was lost. There was no return of conquering heroes to a grateful nation. The attempt to prop up the corrupt military dictatorship in South Vietnam failed and the reunification of Vietnam under the North Vietnamese Government is now a permanent fixture. Australia fought this war with limited political aims, mainly to convince the United States that we were a true and valuable ally, and that the US should fill the vacuum created in SE Asia by the British decision to withdraw to Europe. It could be argued that this also has failed and that Australia is still pursuing a foreign policy to achieve these objectives.

Bill goes on:

It is now beyond dispute that the intelligence advice to the government before the decision to deploy combat troops was taken, was that the war was not winnable. Yet the decision was taken which cost the lives of 501 young Australians.

As the ADF knew this, the motivation for the soldiers deployed to Vietnam was based purely on mateship, pride and professionalism. When they returned, none of this was recognised.

The soldiers felt betrayed by the nation and because of this, they buried themselves back into the community. But the recognition that was given to the men after World War II was not afforded to them. Allowances were not made for the effects of war on these young men.

Bill says:

I remember when I was a boy that a man’s shortcomings would be tolerated because he was a ‘Returned Man’. This did not happen in Australia in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Happily, it is now being done, but for a great many, the damage is irreparable.

Over 50,000 Australians were involved in the Vietnam War. More than 500 died and about 3,000 were wounded. For the veterans who returned, the scars run deep and will for many never truly heal, nor for their families. In Kim Beazley’s speech, he read a letter from the member for Cowan where he stated:

Today is a day when our federal parliament should honour our Vietnam veterans, recognise their service and say to them that they did a good job in the best tradition of the ANZACs.

With this year marking the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, I want to talk about one of the men who was in this battle, Bill ‘Yank’ Akell, someone from my constituency but also someone whom I count as a very close friend. In doing so, I also want to acknowledge the Vietnam veterans of other battles that were waged as part of that war and the many support and medical personnel without whom our casualties would have been so much higher.

Bill Akell is one of those veterans that encapsulates the very best of the Anzac tradition. He joined up in the Army at the age of 18 on 14 May 1964. He was a member of Delta Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and he arrived in Vietnam for his first tour of duty in 1966. Bill, at a mere 20 years of age, alongside 108 other young Australians, was involved in the Battle of Long Tan. Many words have been spoken about the battle and the role it played in determining the tactics of the North Vietnamese for the rest of the war. But the voices of the individual soldiers who were at Long Tan and the many other battles of Vietnam are really only now being heard and only now is any interest shown in their stories.

The History Channel documentary on Long Tan, I am reliably informed by Bill, is a pretty accurate description of what it was actually like. He watched that documentary with his family and said that he had many a tear in his eye as he shared those experiences for the first time in 40 years with his family. I have had the privilege to work with many Vietnam veterans in my time as member for Ballarat. All have been amazingly generous in telling me their stories but also in making sure that the outstanding issues for Vietnam veterans are placed fairly and squarely on the public agenda. I want to touch on three of these issues.

Bill Akell first drew my attention to the outstanding issue of medals in relation to the Battle of Long Tan. The bravery, courage and pure guts of Delta Company prompted the then South Vietnamese government to award those who took part with a unit citation and also to single out 20 individual soldiers who would receive various levels of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Mr Akell was one of those soldiers. Yet, due to the intervention of the Australian ambassador, the citation and medals were not awarded. Forty years on, successive governments have failed to recognise these men and their families. Whilst the issue of the South Vietnamese medal has now been resolved, the issue of the unit citation has not.

The broader issue of Australian bravery awards has also not been resolved. The 40th anniversary of Long Tan presented the ideal time for the government to announce the terms of an inquiry into the unfairness of bravery awards following the Battle of Long Tan. The Battle of Long Tan was the most significant battle during Australia’s long involvement in the Vietnam War. It also led to the most controversial and yet unresolved issue of the bravery awards. After the battle, Harry Smith, who commanded the battle on the ground from the start, had his bravery award downgraded, as did Platoon Commanders Sabben and Kendall. Other recommendations for bravery awards made by Smith were simply ignored or amended without further reference to him. The Australian gallantry and distinguished service Vietnam publication in 1974 noted:

It would appear the system of rationing awards (in Vietnam) resulted in those furtherest from the actual combat being the first to claim awards.

If the government were genuine in its welcome of these veterans in Canberra to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the battle, it should have honoured their presence and announced an independent inquiry to examine the fairness of the bravery awards following the Battle of Long Tan.

The second outstanding issue for many Vietnam veterans is the issue of a health study into Vietnam veterans’ children. Geoff and Sue Parker, from my electorate, have been leading the way on this issue and again have made sure that I understand the impact that the Vietnam veterans’ service has had on their children. The scope and methodology for the study has been sitting on the minister’s desk for some time now, and I note an article by Hedley Peach in the Australian Family Physician this month that again highlights the serious health issues facing Vietnam veterans and their dependants as a result of their service.

The government has raised the expectations of the veteran community on this study, and the delay is simply unacceptable. The minister now needs to either announce the study or stop stringing the veteran community along and tell them that he does not have the money or cannot get support for it. It is unfair to veterans who have worked cooperatively with this government on the scope of the study and on this broader issue to keep stringing them along.

The third issue is T&PI Vietnam veterans. Many in my electorate are angry about the erosion of their pension. Veterans such as Bill Dobell, John Hevey, Charlie Mackenzie and Bill Wallace and many others have been tireless in raising this issue. Again I want to draw on the words of Bill Wallace. He said:

Vietnam Veterans feel betrayed. In 1969 when I was placing my life on the line for this nation, the special rate of pension paid to permanently incapacitated servicemen was 90 per cent of average weekly earnings. TPIs did not receive welfare. The neglect of all governments since, which has been accepted by the electorate, has resulted in those people now being welfare dependent. When the automatic adjustments are made next month, for the first time welfare will constitute more than 50 per cent of the income of most TPIs, and the special rate of pension will be about 40 per cent of the average weekly earnings. Of the 40,000 Vietnam Veterans still alive (5,000 have taken their own lives—10 times as many who died during the conflict), 18,000 are now classed as Totally and Permanently Incapacitated ... I return to my earlier comment that Veteran entitlements should be appropriate, not just adequate.

These are just three of the issues outstanding for Vietnam veterans that the government absolutely must address. Again in the words of Bill Wallace:

But why do we remember these veterans? What is so special about being a Veteran? The answer quite simply is that these are the only servants of the Australian Nation who have had to be prepared to die to implement national policy. No others are required to make this commitment. When undertaking this service to the nation, these men and women are deprived of any of the personal rights which properly protect our freedom and democracy. When you don a uniform, you lose the right to refuse a lawful command at every level from the CDF to the lowest recruit. If the Government says that is what is required, the defence force has no alternative but to say “Yes Sir”. This is why the nation does not have occasions such as this to remember the service of government employees who work in the ATO or in the Diplomatic Service. Only Veterans have been required by the Australian Nation to make this ultimate commitment. Only Veterans have been required to be prepared to die in the service of the nation.

This is why Vietnam Veterans are “special”. Mainly for reasons we would rather have ignored or wish had not occurred at all. Whilst there are 40,000 of us still alive, the nation has a chance to make amends, not merely by public expressions of sorrow and gratitude, not by glittering dinners and ceremonies at the fine memorials which have been built, but by changing the things which affect the everyday lives of veterans.

The 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan was a missed opportunity to rectify some of these wrongs for the Vietnam veteran community.

Debate (on motion by Mr Neville) adjourned.

See this speech in context