Australians in Vietnam In February 1973, 40 years ago this month, Australia established diplomatic relations with what was then the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), or North Vietnam. At the time, the height of the Cold War, this was dramatic and controversial. But now, VietnamAustralia relations are strong and more Australians are calling the country home. By Walter Pearson.
In 1972, so-called Viet Cong representatives lived at the Continental Hotel and went to work daily at Camp Davis in Tan Son Nhat Airport to negotiate details of the US withdrawal from Vietnam. The world was still polarised in a way almost incomprehensible today, divided into a democratic west and a communist east. A divided Vietnam reflected that world, where the United States claimed a red north was invading a democratic south. Australia, like America, had had combat troops in Vietnam since 1962. They operated mostly in the province now known as Ba Ria-Vung Tau. More than 500 were killed during 10 years’ involvement. From a peak of nearly 8,000 in 1969, there were about 120 left 26 asialife HCMC
by 1972, divided evenly between Saigon and near Ba Ria. In Australia, at the end of 1972 a new centre-left government replaced conservatives who had ruled for more than two decades. Within a fortnight, all remaining combat troops had withdrawn from Vietnam. In a move that shocked many at the time, in February 1973, the new government recognised the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi, while at the same time maintaining relations with the Republic of Vietnam in the south. The Australian embassy, on the top two floors of the Caravelle Hotel in Saigon, remained there until 25 April 1975 when it closed its doors and the last Australian staff evacuated. However, a month
earlier an incident had occurred that to this day remains a mystery. When Australia recognised the DRV, it opened an embassy in Hanoi and appointed Graeme Lewis charge d’affairs. Australia then selected David Wilson as the first ambassador. Prior to taking up his post, on 12 March 1975, Wilson met Lewis for discussions in Vientiane, Laos. Lewis then took an Air Vietnam DC4 to Saigon. The aircraft was shot down over Tay Nguyen near Pleiku in the Central Highlands. It is speculated that one side or the other mistook the civilian aircraft for a military one and it was hit by a surface-to-air missile. Foreign affairs officer Graeme Lewis became the last official Australian casualty of the Vietnam War.
Australia, the first belligerent from the war to establish proper ties with reunited Vietnam — the United States did not follow until 1995 — provided some of the first aid programs to the country. Australia’s telecommunications commission helped re-establish and modernise the telephone system. Since doi moi was adopted in 1985, increasing numbers of Australians have come here to travel, work and live. According to Saigon-based Australian consul-general John McAnulty, there are more than 22,000 Australians living in Vietnam on long-term visas; the vast majority are located south of Danang within his bailiwick. “Many are Vietnamese who migrated to Australia, obtained Australian citizenship and have subsequently returned, often