Sunday 18 August 2024

Australian Defence Force representatives; Veterans; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.     

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people here today. 

It is with solemn pride that I join you here today to honour the 521 Australian soldiers lost in the Vietnam War and the more than 3,000 wounded.

Each year, on this day, we reflect on their sacrifices, and those of many more young service men and women who served and returned to Australia suffering the invisible trauma of war.

In the performance of my ceremonial and civic duties as Governor of Queensland, and as Joint Patron, with my husband Graeme, of the Returned and Services League of Australia in Queensland and the Legacy Club of Brisbane, I am ever mindful of the debt we owe to our military personnel past and present.

And largely through my conversations with the defence community, I am conscious that veterans of the Vietnam War often carry a less visible burden — that which comes from being part of a generation so divided over our participation in a foreign conflict.

Add to this that so much has changed in the intervening years. Vietnam for the younger generation is a place to visit on holiday, or perhaps for work or study.

I myself visited Vietnam in January, with Graeme, and was struck by the friendliness and openness of its people.

While there, we visited the Long Tan cross, commemorating that infamous battle you would well know was among the most hard-fought — and the costliest — of battles for our soldiers.

I was struck by the level of care and attention paid to the memorial by the local community, many of whom presumably would have put enmity aside out of respect for those young men who lost their lives on foreign soil.

In the same way that this one battle defined a generation of Australian soldiers as courageous, determined and willing to lay down their lives for their country and their mates, so too does its upkeep and maintenance by the Vietnamese speak to the power of human compassion and understanding.

It is a legacy created by both our nations, and it is up to us to ensure the lessons taught by the experiences on both sides are not lost to history.

Today I extend my deepest gratitude to all Vietnam Veterans for your service to this country and the sacrifices made by you and your families.

Lest We Forget.