COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SPEECH BY
The Rt. Hon. HAROLD HOLT, M. P.,
ON
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO SOUTH EAST ASIA
Ministerial Statement
[ From the " Parliamentary Debates," 5th May 1966]
Mr. HAROLD HOLT ( Higgins--Prime
Minister).-by leave-Southern Asia today
demands and receives world wide attention
and concern. In this ancient complex,
densely-populated region the habits and
practices of centuries are bending,
breaking or yielding under the impact
of twentieth century technology and
new concepts are challenging the old.
The -revolution takes many forms,
most of them unsettling, some of
them violent and dangerous. Conflicting
ideologies compete there for the hearts and
minds of hundreds of millions of human
beings and these millions may have doubled
by the end of this century. The Communist
power seekers in Asia are trying to make
this revolution the vehicle of disruption and
instability enabling them to overturn established
authority and shackle whole communities
to their philosophy. They exploit
grievances, aggravate divisive factors, undermine
stability in order to bring about political
and administrative chaos. Behind the
Communists in South East Asia, wherever
their structures are to be found, is the
driving force of China.
China, with a population upwards of 700
million, is governed by a Communist regime
implacably committed -to its goal of a
5665/ 66 Communist-dominated world. The Chinese
Communists scornfully reject the concept of
peaceful co-existence which has brought
some respite in the cold war and an easing
of . tensions in Europe. Subversion and guerrilla
warfare, as spelled out in the writings
of Mao Tse-tung, have been directed with
planned thoroughness to the villages and
paddy fields of South East Asia. These tactics
have been eagerly adopted and ruthlessly
waged in South Vietnam by General
Giap, the leading military theoretician of
North Vietnam, and by the Vietcong, the
self-styled Liberation Front, who have
learned their lessons well from him.
South East Asia has become a critical
battleground for free peoples everywhere.
South Vietnam has become a testing point
of the determination to prevent Communist
aggression and check its cancerous spread.
Australia is standing . today with the
people of South Vietnam, our close ally the
United States of America, and the forces
of other friendly countries in resisting the
Communist threat. We see more than the
need merely to preserve the independence
and integrity of South Vietnam, ' important
though that task may be of itself. To us,
the threat is, as I have said, to free peoples
everywhere. If South East Asia is to fall
under Communist control we face a future
in which the security of Australia is in
jeopardy. While at this time South Vietnam is the
most heavily embattled, other countries of
the area are alert to the threat also. It is
noteworthy that Korea, which so recently
was itself a battleground of Communist
aggression, has supplied more military
forces, in proportion to its population, to
aid South Vietnam than any other country.
Three successive Presidents of the United
States have clearly recognised the threat,
leading to the provision by that country of
a massive and decisive contribution of
forces and material. Australia, in company
with the free countries of South East Asia,
has cause for gratitude for this contribution
made to security in South East Asia by
American firmness and military strength.
We have admired the resolution and
strength of purpose that President Johnson
has brought to this issue.
The Communists have deliberately
chosen to carry out aggression by covert
means on the basis of long and careful
underground preparation extending over
more than a decade, in the training for
guerrilla warfare, the establishment of
secret bases and stockpiles for a protracted
campaign, the securing of routes of infiltration,
the introduction of specially trained
cadres, the application of methods of
indoctrination and terrorism against
defenceless village people. These are all
elements in the infra-structure. This is the
pattern of Communist aggression in the
conditions of South East Asia. By these
means, the aggressor seeks to escape the
full censure of the free world which would
flow from an open declaration of war in
the sense that we have known it in the
past. The enemy does not openly deploy
his forces in the manner of conventional
warfare where their aggressive actions are
readily identifiable internationally. Even
today, when North Vietnam has at least
nine regular regiments of the P.. A. V. N.
operating in South Vietnam, they will make
no admission of this. Nor, of course, do
they admit the earlier build up of Vietcong
guerrilla forces and infiltration to
which I have just referred. This is a war
largely of attrition, in which there are no
front l: ines and hostile activity is planned to
occur, and does occur, in many -widely
separated places simultaneously. I have said that Australia stands militarily
with South Vietnam, the United States and
other allies, but it is also an important part
of our thinking that we are able to play a
useful part in the building of a better world
order in South East Asia. Wherever we have
been involved in a military role in this area
over the post-war years, our servicemen,
acting along the lines their Government has
approved, have made a positive contribution
to the wellbeing of the people of the
country in which they found themselves. I
was glad to find that programmes of military
civic action-as they are called-and rural
rehabilitation and development are now
accepted as an important part of the tasks
of the military forces of all the allied
participants. There is, in addition, an extensive
programme of civilian cadre training
for service in the villages, which I shall
refer to again later. Through the Colombo
Plan, and in other ways, Australia has made
a useful contribution by civilians also.
It is against all this background that my
recent visit to several of the countries of
South East Asia should be viewed. In each
of these countries Australia has serving men
and women joining with others in holding
in check the Communist threat. The
existence of that threat is common to all of
these countries. It has varied in degree and
as to point of time. We played a part for
many years, with Britain and New Zealand,
in stamping out Communist terrorist activity
in what was then Malaya. We sent military
forces to resist Communist aggression in
Korea. We have helped in Singapore and
Borneo. We have given assistance in various
forms to Thailand, and now we are to
increase earlier military aid in South
Vietnam by providing a task force.
On taking office, I decided to seize the
first opportunity I could take to pay a visit
to our Australian troops at their various
stations. I felt it desirable to have direct
personal knowledge of the conditions of
their service, and have them feel from my
presence with them that they occupy a high
place in the regard of their Government.
I wanted also to have in my mind that
awareness which only personal contact can
provide of the nature of our various establishments,
their environment and setting. I
wanted to make the dots on the map come
. live as known places with known people.
A strong team of advisers, who were also
to gain much benefit and information as
observers, came with me. These advisers
included the Chief of the General Staff, Sir
John Wilton; the Deputy Secretary of the
Prime Minister's Department, Mr. Lawler; a
specialist on South East Asian affairs in the
Department of External Affairs, Mr. Gordon
Jockel; and Mr. Clugston, of the Department
of Defence. All those gentlemen, together
with the other gentlemen who were
with us, were of great assistance. I acknowledge
with appreciation the help that they
gave me. Facilities were provided, at the
expense of their employers, for members of
the Press who desired to accompany the
party, and about 20 newsmen, photographers
and television cameramen, most
of them of senior status in their organisations,
accompanied us. I express my appreciation
to them for what appeared to me
to be a consistently high standard of
reporting. In the course of the tour I visited Vietnam,
Thailand, Malaysia, including both
West Malaysia and Sarawak, and Singapore.
I shall say something about each of these
countries. There were advantages in being able to
travel at short intervals between the four
countries visited and inspect, over the space
of 10 days, activities in more than 20
localities. A head of government, in addition
to receiving the courtesies and hospitality
considered appropriate to his office,
is given means of speedy transport and
communication. He is supplied with the
most frankly expressed and authoritative
information. It is possible in this way to
gain in a short time a quick insight into
the manner in which each country is
tackling its national issues, and, at the same
time, have a more vivid awareness of the
proximity and significance that one country
in the region bears to the other. A valuable
gain from my journey has been the development
of a more intimate relationship with
leaders and senior Ministers in all the countries
visited. This facilitates future contact
and discussion on matters of mutual
interest. Vietnam, of course, in current circumstances,
was the country of most immediate
interest to us. It was of great value to confer
with the Chief of State, General Thieu,
the Prime Minister, Air Vice-Marshal Ky, the Foreign Minister, Dr. Do, and other
members of the Government of the Republic
of Vietnam. Theirs is commonly thought
of as a military Government, and in a
situation of such intensive military activity,
under constant threat of Communist attack,
one would expect the Government to
possess, as it does, a strongly military
flavour and influence. There is, however, a
greater civilian composition in the senior
levels of government than is generally
know. The Directory comprises the military
leaders and corps commanders, but associated
with this is a Ministry of twenty
members of whom five are doctors, five are
lawyers, four are military officers, using
1military to embrace the three servicesthe
Prime Minister, of course being a senior
air force officer-three are engineers, two
are economists and one is a trade union
official. Some of them have been actively
in the fight for national freedom throughout
their adult life. Our talks with them
were -frank and comprehensive. They are
determined to see the struggle through until
freedom and independence have been
secured. The day to day reporting of events as
they occur in various parts of Vietnam can
obscure the extent to which economic and
community life there have adapted themselves
to military operations persisting over
many years. Take the situation in Saigon.
It is true that terrorist incidents happen
there with disturbing frequency. Several
incidents occurred during ' the period of my
visit. Sometimes there is loss of life, injury
and damage from Vietcong sneak raids.
But it must be realised that Saigon is a
large city of about two million people. Life
goes on with most people unaware at the
time that another hostile incident has
occurred. The shops are busy; there is plenty
of traffic about; people go about their
occasions seemingly undeterred.
The scale of United States assistance
pouring into Vietnam is enormous. It
has to ' be seen to be believed.
Saigon, I was told, ' has become the
busiest -airport in the world. The
helicopters in service are to be numnbered
in thousands. They have proved of
immense value for rapid mobility of troops
into action, and the speed with which they
rescue and transport disabled soldiers for
medical treatment has cut in half the fatality
rate from injuries as compared with that of
Korea and the Second World War. The
choppers, as they are familiarly called, are
just about the most popular pieces of equipment
in the country..
. My talks in Saigon and at Bien Hoa
included detailed briefings from military and
diplomatic representatives of the Government
of Vietnam, of the United States including
the Ambassador, Mr. Cabot Lodge,
and General Westmoreland and, of course,
our own Australian advisers. As a result
of the information gained from them, supplemented
by what one could see of the
immensity of the scale of provision of military
equipment and logistic requirements, I
am confident that the Vietcong cannot win.
The military position in South Vietnam has
now been secured. The Vietcong have
suffered heavy losses and their casualties
have been increasing.
Sneak raids by small parties, such as that
made recently on Saigon Airport, can still
be carried out from time to time by the
Vietcong. These raids are part of the military
and political tactics of guerrilla warfare.
They make dramatic news, but they
do not weaken the hold of the South Vietnamese
Government on the areas under its
control. On the other hand, mobile forces
are now available to conduct operations
against enemy forces when they are located,
and to penetrate into territory previously
considered Vietcong strongholds.
There has been a noticeable weakening
in the morale of many of the Vietcong.
The sustained bombing attacks on supplies
and Veitcong held positions and the speed
and mobility of helicopter borne troops
are, having punishing effect. The Vietcong
are suffering from lack of medical supplies
and treatment. The number of defectors
has increased substantially and significantly
in recent months, both as a result of military
and psychological operations. The Vietcong
are now drawing on much less experienced
troops, and the regular North Vietnamese
regiments have proved themselves less
adapted to the guerrilla type of warfare in
what is for them unfamiliar terrain. They
prefer to fight in formed units. This makes
them more liable to detection and air attack.
The heavier equipment to which they are
accustomed creates a transportation
problem for them. More intelligence information
is flowing in, while detection methods
have improved. Allied forces have been
able to strike in critical areas before the
enemy was able to move. In a country of such difficult terrain, and with the tactics
and strategy employed by the enemy it may
be a long time before the Communist
threat can be subdued. But, increasingly,
areas will be cleared of Vietcong and a
more peaceful pattern of life restored. It
must be remembered that while the Vietcong
control large tracts of country, they
hold none of the major centres-they do
not command any one of the 43 provincial
capitals. The protection, rehabilitation, and
development of additional areas brought
under control is a formidable task and will
take a long time. It involves the
re-establishment of civil administration,
police, civil protection units, and a variety
of civil projects to provide medical aid,
education, communications and other public
utilities. Here again the United States
is providing massive support. Military civic
action by combat troops will, however, be
the initial step towards this ultimate
objective. The Government of Vietnam maintains
establishments for the intensive training of
cadres, each 59 in number, to be located
in the villages, specially trained to help in,
defence against Vietcong attack and to
assist the villagers to build a better life for
themselves. Those to be trained are
nominated by the village chiefs and become
equipped to carry out tasks of medical service,
education, construction of homes and
school buildings; they learn improved agricultural
methods and other activities of
befiefit to the village dweller. Since March
1964 some 20,000 trainees have already
been equipped for service along these lines.
The Australian troops in Vietnam and
elsewhere, as I discovered, also regard what
they aptly refer to as hearts and minds
as a necessary part of their activities. They
have become well and affectionately known
in the villages and the areas they serve.
They have helped in this way to improve
morale and build friendship for Australia.
SThe warmth of welcome and cordial hospitality
shown to us by members of the
Government were evidence of the appreciation
which they obviously very sincerely
feel for Australia's military participation
and material help. A bright prospect
in the Vietnam situation is the application
by all the allied participants to constructive
programmes for improvements of
standards in the towns and villages.
All those I met in Vietnam were concerned
about the political situation and discussed
it frankly. In the middle of the
pressures and strains of the war, the
country is seeking to establish a new
system of government. This is a difficult
enough process at any time as Australians
know from their own history. Constitutionmaking
in any circumstances brings to the
forefront the competition among the
various political and regional interests. In
Vietnam, the process is made more complex
by two particular circumstances. In the
first place, the country has not been kindly
dealt with by history for easy political
evolution:. Over the centuries, religious,
regional and cultural influences have produced
a variety of groups and sects and
local loyalties. The years of French
colonialism and Japanese occupation were
followed by a systematic Communist programme
to destroy the growth of institutions
and the structure of government. In
the second place, the wartime situation
requires a strong executive government.
Rapid and effective action is needed for
the conduct of the fighting, for pacification
and for vigorous programmes of civic
action. Finding the right constitutional
expression of the relationship between the
military and civilian elements is a complex
matter not easily to be resolved. But an
awareness of the difficulties should enable
us to maintain a steady view, seeing events
as they occur in a realistic perspective. As
they are checked in the military sphere in
Vietnam-and they are being checkedthe
Communists are likely to intensify
their efforts in the political sphere, not
only in seeking to promote distractions in
Vietnam but in wider political offensives
through their agents of influence in the
other free countries of the region.
The people of Vietnam have great
toughness, vitality and pride. They are
neither apathetic nor dispirited. There is a
general will to resist Communist aggression,
and to prevent Communist domination. The
recent political disturbances appear to have
had only minor adverse effect on the
military situation. The judgment is that the
Vietnamese armed forces with the United
States and other allies can resist the aggression
and ensure security while South Vietnam
develops the basis of an enduring
stability. I have spoken at some length about the
situation in Vietnam because of its importance.
But I wish to. refer also to the general
discussions which I had in the other countries
I visited, which touched upon regional
matters of common concern. Thailand is a
country of considerable experience and
influence in the South East Asian region. It
well exemplifies the rapid ecoiomic and
social progress which can be made with
well directed aid from friendly countries.
It is able to play now, and I believe increasingly
in the future, a significant part in
promoting the security and stability of the
region. The fact that I was able to return,
so soon after the event, the visit made to
Australia by the Prime Minister, Thanom
Kittikachorn, enabled us to establish an
even warmer and closer relationship which
will, I believe, be of enduring benefit to
our two countries. I was taken by helicopter
on an hour's journey from Bangkok over
an interesting stretch of the Thai countryside
to an audience with King Bhumiphon
at his summer palace at Hua Hin. The King
recalled with appreciation the visit of himself
and the Queen to Australia. He asked
me to convey his greetings to the Australian
people. In Kuala Lumpur, I was able to review
with the Deputy Prime Minister, Tun
Razak, and some of his colleagues, the
latest thinking of the Malaysian Government
on the confrontation issue, the
expansion of the Malaysian defence effort
and problems arising for both those countries
from the withdrawal by Singapore
from : Malaysia.
In Singapore, in addition to having useful
talks with the Deputy Prime Minister,
Dr. Toh, and other senior Ministers, I paid
a visit to the Singapore naval base and had
a briefing there from senior officers and
visited those Australian Navy units then at
the base. Arrangements were made for me
to view the whole area by helicopter, and
this was certainly a very practical descriptive
way of studying this vast establishment.
Australia has long held the view that the
continued . maintenance of the-base by
British forces is an important contribution
to the security and stability of the whole
region of southern Asia. My discussions
with representatives of the Malaysian and
Singapore Governments confirmed that they
too share this view. The base has the
additional value of representing a considerable
f2ctor in the economy of Singapore.
It directly employs more than 30,000 people
and, through its requirements, gives indirect
employment to many tens of thousands of
Singapore citizens. Although I have not
previously referred to it specifically in this
statement, we fully and gratefully
acknowledge the major support which the
United Kingdom provides by means of
its forces which are spread through
the Singapore-Malaysian area-including
Borneo-and which collaborate with other
Commonwealth forces.
Each of the Governments we met took
me frankly into their thinking on their basic
problems and national issues. They gave me
accounts, in particular, of their plans for
economic development and social progress,
and of . the thinking underlying these plans.
I came away with the impression of realistic,
modern-minded govenments and developing
administrative structures.
Purposeful efforts are being made to put
national resources into rural development.
All are agreed that the benefits of modern
life must be progressively spread into the
villages and remote rural areas. The central
Governments are aware that the resources
and facilities at their disposal must be used
to break down the traditional feeling of the
small landholders that governments bring
them no benefit.
I have spoken of the prominence given
to civic action programmes in. Vietnam. In
Thailand, mobile teams are being sent into
the remote provinces to survey the problems
and provide civic action there; national
development programmes give a major
place to agriculture and inland transportation.
In Malaysia, the experiences of the
emergency have been studied and incorporated
into national planning. The new
villages established during the resettlement
programme of the emergency have become
permanent communities. We were briefed
on these matters in the National Operations
Room, which is personally supervised
by the Deputy Prime Minister. This centre
aims at co-ordination and drive in carrying
out the rural development programme. In
Sarawak, the twin problems of providing
security and development in rural areas are
major priority tasks.
The Government of Singapore is energetically
grappling with the problems of
industrialisation and international trade in
order to provide employment for its growing
work force. Australia is playing a part in assisting
with these schemes of welfare and development.
1 was impressed by the work which
the surgical team from the Alfred Hospital,
Melbourne, is doing in the district hospital
at Bien Hoa village. I also met members
of the surgical team from St. Vincent's
Hospital, Melbourne, which is doing similar
valuable work at Long Xuyen. In discussions
with Government leaders, I was
told of the value they attach to the contributions
which our experts are making in
various civil fields such as road and bridge
building projects in provincial areas, and in
attachments to institutions. During my visit
to Kuching, the Sarawak association of
former Colombo Plan students met me to
express their appreciation of Australia's
help. They represented a numerous group
of young men trained in various professions
in Australian universities and other educational
institutions.
The major intention prompting this tour,
however, was to visit our forces serving in
various parts of South East Asia. I have
now seen at first hand the splendid job they
are doing. I have had opportunities to meet
informally with officers and men in their
service positions and at their billets. In discussions
with Government and military
leaders in the various theatres, I have heard
unstinted praise for the quality of our forces
both as fighting men and as representatives
of Australia in their contacts with local
populations and in projects of civic action.
This has been a heart warming experience.
Australia can be very proud of the men
and women of our armed forces throughout
South East Asia. The great tradition of
Australia's fighting men is safe in their hands
-with the Navy on patrol duties in Malaysian
waters, with the Army in its border
posts in Borneo, playing its part in the
crucial fight against aggression in South
Vietnam, or building airfields in Thailand
and roads under the most difficult conditions
of terrain and climate in Sabah and
with the Air Force on the alert for air
defence at Butterworth and Ubon, or providing
vital air transport in South Vietnam.
The Army cloth cap, battered and faded
in service, is to be found worn in every
conceivable variety of shaping, but with a
jaunty and cheerful pride. These forces may
not be large in numbers relative to the total
forces engaged in these areas, but they
are of the highest quality and they make a
significant contribution to the allied effort.
They have an effect and influence out of
proportion to their actual numbers. I would
like to include in this tribute the armed
forces of New Zealand serving in the area.
I visited the New Zealand battery alongside
our battalion in its encampment at Bien
Hoa, and this unit joined together with us
on the morning of Anzac Day in the most
moving commemoration of that anniversary
that I have ever attended.
Our troops have shown themselves able
to win the confidence and friendship of
village peoples in the areas of operations;
good relations have been developed with
the local authorities and residents in base
areas; and the Governments have made
clear to us the value they place on the,
presence of our forces. Their initial
stationing in these countries involved a
degree of co-operation and mutuality of
interest between us and the Governments
concerned. Once established, the continuing
presence of our forces has contributed
appreciably to the further strengthening of
the relationship. They -have earned a high
reputation for their conduct, their military
capacity and their military civic action
work. It was clear from what I was told
in private discussion, and from what each
Government said publicly, that there was
much satisfaction in the presence of Australian
troops as a direct commitment by
Australia to South East Asian security.
I have spoken at some length about a
: number of aspects of my journey and its
background. I have mentioned the Communist
inspired instability and disruption
in southern Asia, that South East Asia has
become a critical battleground for free
peoples everywhere, and that the prime
manifestation of the struggle now finds
itself in Vietnam. I have said something
about the reasons for Australia's participation
with America and other allies in support
of South Vietnamese forces in their
defence of their national integrity. Because
of their very considerable importance, I
have referred also to various matters bearing
on the social and ccormic development
of Vietnam and other countries in
the region. I have referred also to discussions
with Government leaders in each
of the countries, and I have spoken in the
highest terms, as is their due, of our own
forces in the area, of their quality, of their standing, of the work of military and civil
significance which they do, and, I now add,
of their understanding of the role which
they perform, and the powerful reasons
for it.
I now conclude by saying again that the
visit was for me, and I would hope for the
Australian nation, a most valuable exercise.
It has produced a sharpening of our consciousness
of military and political situations
which are constantly under our examination.
I retain a vivid visual picture of many
locations and establishments of continuing
importance to us. The review has provided
a new and rewarding occasion for an up
to the minute exchange of views with other
Governments. Naturally I cannot reveal the
substance of the intimate discussions which
took place with these Governments, but the
results will be beneficial to our own future
internal counsels. The journey brought
closer personal relationships. I am glad to
report that my visit was very much welcomed
in each of the countries concerned.
They, I believe, as well as we, felt that each
derived value from it. Australia is known
among the countries of the area as a good
ally, and a reliable friend. We clearly have
a not insignificant part to play in the future
of a region undergoing a revolution of
change-a revolution surely representing
one of the historic movements in the story
of mankind. I return with a firmly based
confidence in the allied capacity to defeat
aggression and establish conditions for
peace and security. We must keep a clear
and' calm vision of what we are trying to
achieve and a resolute will to do it. My
Cabinet colleagues and I have long held the
view that Asian countries are prepared to
work closely with others in preserving
security in the region and in establishing
a structure of defence and effective power
to deter future aggression. I return
strengthened in that conviction. The
principles of collective security that we have
been following are soundly based. Our
defence policies are the right policies for
Australia at this time.
I present the following paper-
Prime Minister's Visit to South East Asia-
Ministerial Statement, 5th May 1966-
and move-
That the House take note of the paper.
BY AUTHORITY: A. J. ARTHUR, COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT PRINTER, CANBERRA