Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence. This year it is 50 years since Australians were first involved in the Vietnam War, in which nearly 60,000 Australians served, of whom 521 lost their lives and 3,000 were wounded. Whatever one thinks of the merits of the Vietnam conflict, it was a horrific war with huge casualties. Over two million people were killed, 3.6 million people were wounded, and our staunch ally the Americans saw 304,000 of its personnel injured and 58,169 killed, of whom a remarkable 11,465 were just teenagers. Today we commemorate the 46th anniversary of Long Tan, when on 18 August 1966, 108 Diggers took on nearly 2,500 North Vietnamese regulars and Vietcong in the rubber plantations of Long Tan. Eighteen of our men lost their lives with many more injured. For those in the Delta company 6RAR, it was a day of heroism and sacrifice, and that day has stood as a monument to the courage and resolve of Australians in uniform. Against the odds, the Australians stood up and won.

Born early in the 1970s, I am too young to remember the controversy of the Vietnam war, but I have heard many a time about the political differences created by Australia's deployment. What is more, I have learnt about the difficult reception many of our Vietnam veterans received on their return home. Whatever one's belief about whether or not the deployment was right to start with, we should always embrace our soldiers who are in the field in a bipartisan way. Those men and women in uniform are putting their lives on the line to defend our nation, our interests and our values. I hope we never see another period when Australian servicemen and women depart for the battlefield and return to the family home without the full support of our political and civic leaders. To all those men and women who served in Vietnam and to those 108 brave Australians who fought at Long Tan against the odds, we say, 'Lest we forget.'

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