Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the recent official opening of the Vietnam Veterans Museum on Phillip Island in Victoria. A crowd of over a thousand people was there. It was a great day and an opportunity for many members of the Vietnam veterans community to get together and to celebrate a real achievement, an achievement they can all be very proud of. I would like to particularly mention John Methven and his wife as leading lights with respect to what has been done there. I would also stress that what has been achieved has been a group effort, which many people associated with the exercise can be very proud of.

The museum is a work in progress, but it is something that I would urge all members to visit if the opportunity presents itself. I would certainly urge members of the public to take the opportunity, if they are down near Phillip Island, to have a good look at something which showcases a range of very important memorabilia from a very important part of our history.

The museum is great to walk around. I spent several hours there trying to get around it, but I will need to go back again to have a proper look. Some of the more interesting artefacts are the wooden marbles that were used by the government of the day for the draw of birth dates, which decided who would be a national service inductee. There is a Centurion tank, a 105-millimetre Howitzer gun, Land Rovers, a ‘Huey’ Cobra AH-1F helicopter complete with a 20-millimetre Gatling gun, and a holographic light and sound display that outlines the history of Australia’s involvement in the war.

Not only that; there is also a range of other, smaller artefacts, including lots of pictures from the time. It was intriguing to walk around and to see photographs of people that I have dealt with in the Vietnam veterans community over the last couple of years in particular—seeing them looking much younger and serving their country so many years ago.

It was clear that this is something that they can all be very proud of. It is something which the community should get behind. The fundraising efforts that were undertaken to get this far have been very impressive and have involved the Vietnamese community as well as various ESOs, the community in general and also, for example, the Vietnam Veterans Motor Cycle Club in Victoria. They can all be very proud of what they have done. They stressed that it is all about working together; it is all about recognising the fact that there are, as they say on their website, no second-class citizens in our community. It is something that I would certainly urge members of parliament to go along and see. I was very proud to be there—very proud to be associated with the opening on the day and very proud of all those involved in achieving a very worthwhile museum.