Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan I want to put on record my thanks to all Vietnam veterans, most particularly the Vietnam veterans who make up the backbone of Box Hill RSL. On Saturday night I was privileged, yet again, to go to the commemorative dinner dance of the Vietnam Veterans Association subbranch of Box Hill RSL. As always, a fun time was had by all. I want to put on the record my absolute thanks to Charles Cook, who did a stunning job yet again in organising the event and our very own John Howard at Box Hill RSL, Shane Arnold, Brian Tateson and also Tony Bowden, who is the President of the Box Hill RSL, also a Vietnam veteran, and to say thank you for the work they do.

On the night I had the privilege of unveiling a commemorative piece of artwork that the Vietnam Veterans Association have commissioned and the Box Hill RSL has helped with the funding of. It is a $7,000 piece of art and it is a phenomenal work that has many panels. They commissioned a well-known professional artist, Terry Miller. Terry’s brother is the current painter for the Army. He was been doing quite a lot of work in Iraq. There is not a lot of artwork that commemorates the Vietnam War, so this was thought to be a fitting tribute to the many men and women who are members of the Box Hill RSL who served during that conflict. It will hang in the new building that the RSL is commissioning and not only will that building become one of the largest RSLs within Victoria but probably it will rival many throughout Australia.

The RSL did seek funding for this $7,000 piece of art under the Commonwealth memorial grants and they were successful in securing $3,000 towards it. The RSL are, however, outraged today to see in the newspaper that Mr Barresi, the member for Deakin, has claimed credit for securing that funding for them. They are very disappointed. As several members have said to me, if I were a Liberal they would vote for me but I am not, and now they are not voting for Liberals ever again. This has caused absolute outrage down at my RSL and outrage amongst my Vietnam veterans. They commissioned the work; they sought the funding. They had no assistance from Mr Barresi, the member for Deakin. They are very hurt by this action today of his claiming credit for this in the newspaper. Yes, the government gave them the money—I do not dispute that—but they did not seek any assistance. The RSL are a very self-sufficient group. They are a very commendable group and they are very disappointed with this action today.

What should have been a great commemoration has been soured by somebody else taking credit for what they have done. This has been a work in progress for many years. It has taken many years to convince the committee at the RSL that this would be the right thing to do. It has taken time to raise the money. The actual funding at the end of the day was an extra kick. They are very appreciative but they are very hurt by the actions of the member for Deakin. (Time expired)