STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr GOSLING (Solomon) (13:44): Today is Vietnam Veterans' Day, the day when we honour the more than 60,000 Australians who served during the Vietnam War and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. My dad, John Gosling, served in Vietnam, and today I'm thinking of him, all his mates and all who served with them—in particular, Private Robert 'Jock' Buchan, whose name is on the roll of honour at the Australian War Memorial.

This year also marks 60 years since the Battle of Long Tan. On 18 August 1966, Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought a fierce battle in the Long Tan rubber plantation. I've been there.

It's a very sacred place, and I thank the Vietnamese government for respecting that place where 18 Australians were killed and 24 were wounded. In the Northern Territory, we remember Corporal Reg Hillier of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, who was 26 when he was killed in Vietnam. He was the only Territorian to lose his life in that war.

We remember those who never came home, those who returned forever changed and the families who carried the burden of service alongside them. We honour our Vietnam veterans for their service and for everything they have contributed to our country in the decades since then. Lest we forget.