PM Transcripts

JI4A
PRIME MINISTER Press Statement No. 487
7 April 1975
Second Orphan Flight
The Prime Minister, Mr Whitlam, today
announced details of a second Australian charter flight
to bring Vietnamese children to Australia.
He said that a Qantas Boeing 747 aircraft,
chartered by the Australian Government, would leave Sydney
at 2 pm today to fly to Bangkok.
On board will be a large team of medical
personnel, who will be flown from Bangkok to Saigon
by RAAF aircraft to accompany the children back to Bangkok
to join the Qantas flight. The Qantas flight is expected
to return to Melbourne on Wednesday.
The medical personnel will include 40 nurses,
three pediatricians, two general practitioners, officers
from the Department of Health and senior officials from
the Departments of Labor and Immigration and Social
Security,, The Qantas charter aircraft will be fully
loaded with about 27 tonnes of relief supplies for Vietnam.
This will include five tonnes of clothing, children's foods
and medicines which have been provided by Australian
voluntary agencies for the Rosmary Taylor Orphanage in Saigon.
There will also be $ 65,000 worth of drugs and other
medicines from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, and
milk power. The Prime Minister said that it was not yet
certain how many children would return to Australia on
the Qantas charter. The final number would be advised
later, following advice from the Australian Embassy in
Saigon.
CANBERRA. A. C. T.