Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group

The Hon. CHARLIE LYNN [5.13 p.m.]: Recently I was honoured to be invited to be the national patron of the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group. If someone had said to me about 40 years ago, when I was a plant operator in Vietnam, that one day I would be invited to be patron of a group representing such a wide cross-section of Australia, it is something I never would have thought about. In accepting the position—I think I am the only Vietnam veteran in an Australian parliament—I pay tribute to the former patron, Graeme Edwards, who is the Federal member for Cowan. Graeme's tireless efforts on behalf of the plight of Vietnam veterans earned him the respect of veterans across Australia. I have spoken about the plight of Vietnam veterans on a number of previous occasions in this Parliament. I am currently reading Paul Ham's excellent book entitled Vietnam: The Australian War. I strongly recommend the book to every member of Parliament. Ham provides an excellent overview of the struggle of the Vietnamese people over the centuries.

The debt we owe these people was recognised by the founder of the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group, Paul Murphy, following a visit to Vietnam in 1990. Paul was shaken by the devastation of the social and physical infrastructure caused by the war and the country's 20-year isolation by the West. This was most evident in rural areas where facilities were non-existent. It was in the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, which contains the former Australian Task Force Base at Nui Dat and the Australian Logistic Support Group Base at Vung Tau, that Paul established contact with the people's committee to identify areas where assistance could be given. After lengthy discussions and formalities, the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group was established in 1994 and incorporated, and a nationwide membership and fundraising program was launched to support the first project.

The association now aims to provide practical aid and assistance to the people of Vietnam, in particular within the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau but not excluding any other province within Vietnam; to assist in building, medical, educational, agricultural, aquacultural and reconstruction projects throughout Vietnam by all means within the group's power; to assist and implement educational programs, including the provision of printed material, within the guidelines as set by the relevant education departments within Vietnam; to implement and provide medical assistance and programs for the people of Vietnam, including in-country visits by medical teams; to foster and improve relations between the people of Australia and Vietnam; to provide aid by way of labour, advice, expertise, planning, materials, money or whatever other means may be necessary to achieve these goals; and to take all steps necessary to become registered as an Australian non-government organisation for the furtherance of the above aims.

Since the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group has been incorporated there have been a number of great projects. We have built a kindergarten at Nui Dat, which is a childcare centre. Stage one was built in 2003. Stage two, which will commence this year, will see the addition of a kitchen, toilet and security fence, which will allow the local communities to fully utilise the facility. Tonight I am the guest speaker at a function to kick off the fundraising effort for this project. Another project undertaken by the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction group has been a successful goat and cattle breeding scheme to help alleviate poverty in the area. Currently, there are 58 families involved and the herds now number more than 150 goats and about 30 cattle.

We have constructed a school for the blind and an orphanage. There are health programs and health teams from Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. As more veterans come to know about the Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group they give us their support. The group is not limited only to Vietnam veterans but includes other members of the community. It is a wonderful gesture and a way of allowing us to help these wonderful people, the Vietnamese, in a small way with local projects in Vietnam.