TV interview – Sky News Australia with Jaynie Seal

JAYNIE SEAL, HOST: A commemorative service has just been held at Parliament House to mark 75 years since the inception of the first National Service scheme. National Servicemen’s Day seeks to honour the more than 280,000 Nashos who were conscripted in schemes during the Cold War. And for more, joining us live is Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh.  Minister, thank you so much for your time. Talk us through how the commemoration went.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS: So, Jaynie, we had a national commemoration today at the Parliament House, recognising both the National Service Training Scheme, which ran during the 1950s and the National Service Scheme from 1965 to 1972. And I think often people think about the Nashos in the context of the Vietnam War, and, of course, many of them were required to go and fight in the Vietnam War. But across both schemes we had some 280,000 Australian men who were required to provide National Service, the earlier scheme where they had some 14 weeks of mandatory full-time training and then ongoing reserve requirement, but with your Nashos in the 60s and early 70s, you know, they were pulled out of their jobs, away from their families for up to two years to undergo training and often deployment to places like Borneo and Vietnam.

So, very disruptive for them, whether they saw active service or not. And it’s really important that we as a nation commemorate that service and sacrifice and that we recognise that, especially this year, which is the 75th anniversary of the commencement of National Service.

SEAL: Yes, certainly a milestone. As you mentioned, Minister, their work wasn’t voluntary. And tell us about the special place that they hold in the community.

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, you know, the great thing about our Nashos is that, you know, many of them, they came and did their National Service. They went back into their communities, and they really benefited from that time in service. So many of them talk about how their time in National Service turned them from boys to men, and, you know, it gave them great skills that they were able to use in their working life going forward. But many of them also talk about the real destructive effect of being removed from their communities, from their families, from their jobs for two years, whilst their friends, the vast majority of Australians, were able to get on with their lives without being disrupted.

And so there has been quite variable experiences for our National Servicemen, and then especially you had those that were made to go and fight in a war, the Vietnam War, that became quite controversial here back in Australia towards the end. And that had some lasting impacts for all people who fought in Vietnam, and especially those who went not of their own volition but because of compulsory National Service. And so, recognising all of those key elements, the impact on those people, on their families as well, is incredibly important.

SEAL: Yeah, it certainly is. And tell us more on the training scheme that was required. So most 18-year-old men, they had to take place in the 14 weeks of military training and then up to around five years of part-time service.

MINISTER KEOGH: That’s right. So, they do their 14 weeks of full-time training, but then they’d have to come back and do what we would now call reserve service, service in the CMF. They’d be out every month having to keep their skills fresh, and then they would have to do an annual sort of camp training exercise as well.

And I think it’s important as we look back 75 years later that this was started in the early 50s. We’d just finished the Second World War. We had the Korean War going on, which was a fight against the communist North Koreans, and it was in the context of the Cold War and making sure that as a nation we had a plentiful supply of well-trained men – and it was only men at that time – that were available in case things deteriorated in our region.

And so, you know, it was seen as a very positive thing at the time. But especially given the linkage of National Service to the Vietnam War, which, as I said, became quite controversial in Australia, it developed this very negative connotation of National Service in Australia. And that’s why in that context – and we heard today from a National Serviceman who said he didn’t even talk about his service until after the song, “I was only 19” came out in the 1980s, because it was only then that he felt that the public perception in Australia had sufficiently changed that it was safe enough, if you like, to be able to talk about his time in the army.

SEAL: Yeah, and I’m sure that there were more stories told. What else can you tell us about today?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yeah, so we heard from a number of different National Servicemen in the presentations and addresses at the service – someone who’d been in the first scheme in the 1950s from 1952 to 1959, and he talked about the real positive impact that it had on him. We heard from someone who was required to go to Vietnam in the second National Service scheme and another person who had trained in the National Service scheme but hadn’t been required to deploy. So, there was really different impacts and experiences from people. All of them spoke about how they’ve kept in touch with the people that they served with, and it built great camaraderie and connection for them, and they still stay in touch with those people that they served with so many years ago, and they check in on each other regularly.

And, you know, that’s one of those things we talk about in terms of military culture, is that it does build such great camaraderie within the services and across the services. That shared experience that people have is a really positive thing. And certainly, as the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, one of the things that we look out for in the context of, say, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, is when veterans lose that contact, when they lose that sense of belonging that there is great risk.

So, it was great to hear about how our National Servicemen have been able to keep that going. One of the National Servicemen, one of the Nashos, who was there today, was from my community. He’s from Gosnells in Western Australia, and, you know, that’s what he does – organises the Nashos in the area to make sure that they catch up, that they stay connected, there’s also a cuppa or a beer going on a monthly regular event so that they can maintain that contact and share their stories.

SEAL: Very important day, indeed, and Minister Matt Keogh, we really appreciate you joining us today. Thank you.

END

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Authorised by The Hon Matt Keogh MP.