Page 2374 - Week 07 - Thursday, 17 August 2006
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sister-in-law, Tony’s wife Lynn, about his experiences. It was particularly moving for me to have a close friend whose brother was killed at the Battle of Long Tan.
I hope that several outstanding issues are resolved relating to two platoon commanders, Sabben and Kendall, who received a mention in dispatches when I think everyone conceded they should have received military crosses. I hope something can be done about that. It is an issue that I have raised with the Prime Minister and I am sure he will do all he can to address it. Many of the young diggers or national servicemen who participated in the Battle of Long Tan were in their early twenties. Bob Buick, a regular army soldier and platoon sergeant of 11 Platoon was only 27 at the time.
It was a magnificent effort by 108 young Australians against 2,500 Vietnamese. At the conclusion of the battle 18 Australians were dead and more than 250 Vietnamese were dead. At one stage Bob Buick called down to re-fire on his own position, something that is done only when one is absolutely desperate. To the eternal gratitude of the Kiwi battery commander he did an add 50, the most minor adjustment that one can make. So the artillery came down 50 metres in front of the Australian position and broke up a determined North Vietnamese attack.
As I said earlier, a lot of people played an important part in that battle. The rescue company from the battalion task force and the APCs hosed off Vietnamese attackers and interrupted a major assault on the Australian position. The Battle of Long Tan is one of the most significant battles in Australian history. Courage and mateship were two of the elements that were present when those soldiers were faced with overwhelming opposition. The skill and courage of all concerned ensured a victory for Australian diggers.
I was delighted when Bob Buick and Dave Sabben, one of the platoon commanders, met two old adversaries, vice-commanders of the North Vietnamese force, who admitted that tactically the Australians had won the battle. That meant a lot to the Australian diggers. We all concede that strategically they won the war but it was great to see two old foes reunite after so many years. We should all be very proud of what our troops did in a most significant battle that will be commemorated tomorrow.
Industrial relations
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (5.28): Tonight I bring to the attention of members yet another attack on working families in the ACT. Waste workers employed by SITA Environmental Solutions in Hume have been left with no option but to call a peaceful protest when they were locked out of the yard and locked out of negotiations. Employees at SITA have called on the multinational company to give them a fair wage rise in line with inflation on their new contract.
Workers began picketing outside SITA in Hume at 2.00 this morning while most of us were tucked up in our beds. The contract under which employees at SITA were working came to an end almost 12 months ago and they were happy to roll over the same agreement that they had, but management needed to think about it. After numerous calls for the contract to be re-signed it was only after the introduction of the Howard government’s new WorkChoices legislation that management decided to negotiate with workers.
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