REVIEW OF TROOPS OF FIRST BATTALION
RAR, HOLSVJORTHY, NSW 22 MARCH, 1968
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MNISTER, THE RT. HON.
JOHN G. GORTON, MP
It must have been a thrill to any Australian who today
saw you marching past and demonstrating the discipline, the training and
the ability which you have learnt.
I suspect, unless things have changed very considerably
since the time I once wore uniform, this has been-the result of some
considerable practice, of some -considerable rehearsals. And again I
suspect, unless things have changed, that sometimes these practices and
those rehearsals were a little dreary. But the end result has been, as the
end result of hard work and-application must always be, that you have today
put on for all of us here a parade which I do not believe would have been
bettered by any body of armed men from any country in the world.
You marched past-half of you, so I am informed,
Regular soldiers, half of you National Servicemen, and completely
Indistinguishable the one from the other as you will In the future grow even
less distinguishable, If that is possible.
A Regular -soldier or -National Serviceman is now, and will
be In the future, an Australian soldier and there is, and will be, no difference
between them. You will be going because your Government and your country
thinks It right, and for the safety of our nation that this should happen, to
fight some considerable distance away, ln terms of miles, from Australift,
but no-great distance away In terms of time. You have been asked to go, or
you have been told to go, b ecause in our judgment It is to -the safety of all
small nations to do what they can to see that other small nations are not
allowed to be overrun by force, or by subversion, or by terrorism, but
should have the chance to retain for themselves the opportunity to make , a
choice to build the kind of life that the Australian people have an opportunity
to choose. You will have before you, because this is a part of all
soldiering, many times of boredom, of heat, of uncomfortable conditions,
of tension, of strain, and I believe of fear, because I think that most men
In battle feel but conquer fear. This will be punctuated by periods of
action, but whether in action or in training, I would like you to know this.
No matter what some columnists from time to time may Indicate In what
they write; no matter what attitude some members of legislature may from
time -to time Indicate from what they say, your Government believes that
you are serving this nation i the highest way In which It can be served and
will stand behind you and guard your good name to the end to the best of its
ability. And -behind that, and far more Important than that, 90 per cent of
the Australian people are proud of how you bear yourselves, are proud of what
you are doing, In some cases what you have done and what you will do.
Never for a moment think that -this nation and Its people are not behind you
and backing you, because they are. ./ 2
-2
Idon't want to keep you standing there for long,,. I will just
conclude by saying this.
Your grandfathers went to France and to Gallipoli, not for
themselves to try and see that aggression did not succeed, but to help to
see aggression didn't succeed. And for a while they were successful.
Your fathers went to the four corners of the world to try and see
that that great attack on human dignity made at that time by Nazi Germany
would not succeed, and they smashed that attack. You are carrying on in
that tradition. No man can say, and no generation can say, what I do now will,
for all the future, make life better. But a man can say and -a generation
can say, what I do now I believe will make it more likely that In the future,
life will be better for the people of the world. And when you come back,
and when you leave the Army, you will have this to retain for the rest of
your lives and nothing can take It away, and nothing can tarnish it.
You can say I have been one of a regiment, I have taken my place in that
regiment, I have borne myself as a brave and honourable man should.
I -have taken the risks that one must take. I have accepted that and I
have served my country well.
Good luck to you all.