The Power Of Conflict in Shaping a Nation.

How Australia was Shaped by the Vietnam War.

Australia, since its establishment has been an orthodox society which showed unquestioning loyalty to Britain. Sharing the values of its colonial master, it was predominantly hinged on the belief of white supremacy and patriarchal dominance. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 16 years, precipitated a great change in Australia. It was a significant event that had not only affected the United States but it also had a profound impact over several aspects of Australian society. It was a turning point for Australia politically, culturally and socially. It began as an escalation of conflicts when France withdrew from Vietnam in early 1956, followed by the American military intervention which sought to prevent the North Vietnamese government from unifying Vietnam under communist rule as part of a wider strategy of containment. Although minor, Australia's involvement in this international conflict , eventually led to drastic changes in their sense of identity and ultimately their place in the world as by the end of the 1970s, Australia would become a more liberal society.

Many historians postulate that Australia became involved in the Vietnam War because they were a member of SEATO and a close ally of the United States. Furthermore, Australia was partly adhering to their defense policy of "forward defence" as stated in a government report, dated 1975:

"The provision of military aid by Australia was decided upon political reasons[...], which was to ensure the long-term defense interests of Australia. These were seen in terms of the theory of forward defense against the victory of communism in South-East Asia."

In a sense, forward defense meant the deployment of forces across Asia to defend Australia by containing and repulsing enemy aggression at the original line of contact. The other reason for Australia's involvement was the "domino theory", which was a primary concern. Australia believed it would threaten national security as the communist victory in Indochina would mean that Thailand would be next, followed by Malaya and subsequently Australia. To counter this, involvement came through the means of providing military advisers and equipment(1962-1964) and later battalions of troops (1965) as well as encouragement to the American military efforts.

Australia's participation in the Vietnam War had a deep repercussion which resonated in the social, cultural and political settings. On the surface level, the Vietnam War confirmed the growing gap between Britain and Australia. On the contrary, it also confirmed Australia's growing bonds with America. For the first time, Australia entered a war without the consent of Britain. Traditionally, Britain had always been the main influence on Australia's foreign and domestic policies. Australia on the other hand had always been proud to celebrate its English heritage and showed unquestioning loyalty towards her colonial master. This loyalty for Britain quickly deteriorated after the events of World War II, as the mantle of leadership slipped from Britain, as did her capacity to defend Australia in the era of nuclear power. The Vietnam War, saw Australia acted independently as well as her attempts to improve its relationship with the United States through encouraging and supporting the American objectives in Indochina. As clearly indicated by Alan Renouf:

"Our objective should be[...] to achieve such a habitual closeness of relations with the United States and sense of mutual alliance that in our time of need after we have shown all reasonable restraint and good sense, the United States would have little option but to respond as we would want.[...]The problem of Vietnam is one, it seems, where we could, without a disproportionate expenditure, pick up a lot of credit with the United States."

The Vietnam War ,hence, provided an opportunity for Australia to draw a closer relationship with the United States. This relationship was not only underlined by the infantries that Australia sent to Vietnam but also by the purchase of American ships, planes, armored personnel carriers, equipment and an agreement signed in 1963 for the establishment of American naval bases at North West Cape, in Western Australia; followed by several agreements in 1966 and 1969 to establish US satellite facilities at Pine Gap and Nurrungar. The hosting of these bases confirmed Australia's new commitment to America. The new commitment that was resulted from the Vietnam War, depicted a greater importance for Australia's position in the world, as it now has a closer affiliation to a world superpower and also marked the severing of its image of being a former colony of Britain.
This new allegiance with the United States and the involvement in Vietnam were not met with entirely positive response from the Australian masses. Even though Australia had developed a close relationship with the United States, as outlined by Holt's remark, "all the way with LBJ", the outcome of the involvement was a deep division within Australian society both culturally and politically. Certain policies laid down by the Liberal government to fuel the Vietnam War efforts generated great discontent in the public. Civilians publicly displayed their opposition most commonly through riots, protests, rallies and demonstrations. The strongest dissidents were against the National Service Act passed by the Holt Government in 1964, which required 20 years old males to serve in the Army for a period of 24-months. A lot of young Australians organized rallies and campaigns against the conscription draft. It turned into an organized anti-war protest which essentially became a part of youth rebellion against the authority and traditional values, the most notable one is the Moratorium Movement which was essentially a mass, peaceful protest. In many of these protests and campaigns, the Australian youth opted for more liberal practices which were blatantly against the predominant Christian values in Australia. Liberal practices such as an alternative lifestyle, individual rights and a less patriarchal dominated society were championed by these youth. This resistance highlighted an emergence of a bolder youth identity, which also saw the emergence of an alternative youth culture such as the 'long hair' trend, the popular usage of drugs like Marijuana and LSD.

Parallel to this, there was also dissent inherent at the political level. The Liberal government which was in power during this period was heavily opposed by the Australian Labor Party(ALP). The ALP was totally against Australia's military commitment and the use of conscripts drafted from the National Service Act to fight in Vietnam. They argued that the war was basically a continuation of the nationalist war of liberation which had begun under the French colonial rule, and that therefore the conflict could not be resolved by military means. In short, they led the Anti-war movement which began to spread quickly across Australia. These anti-war sentiments both from the public and political parties, taught Australians to question the authority and the actions of government. Ultimately it spurred them on to challenge the mainstream ideologies.

One of the mainstream orthodox ideologies that was internalized deeply in Australian psyche was patriarchal dominance in all aspects of society. Since time immemorial, Australian men had always been more superior, privileged and respected than women. The role of men was usually that of breadwinners, laborers and parliamentary leaders whereas the women were voiceless, domesticated and subservient. In this light, the Vietnam War was very significant as during the decade, it can be seen that there was a shift in the role of women. In the past Australian women did not achieve their voting rights until 1921 and played an inferior role in the workforce. Their wages were distinctively unequal in comparison to that of men, as statistic pointed out that it was only 54% during the prewar era and 75% by the 1950s. The full equality of wages was not achieved until 1972, this was the direct implication of the Vietnam War, where women were given the opportunity to voice out their resistance and opinions in society. The Vietnam War ,therefore, was a channel for the feminist movement because before the war women were conformed to the housewife and mother ideals and so there was no real outlet for Australian women to express themselves. The war offered women participation in groups like "Save our sons" where they were allowed to come together to openly defy the male hierarchy of the government. Women began to involve themselves in the political arena through the formation of electoral lobby groups, where they advocated to an end to all forms of discrimination against women. They also started to demand for full equal pay, the provision of child-care facilities and maternity leave. The power dynamics between male and female ultimately changed as a result, as women would later achieve the full rights they have been advocating for.(full equal pay [1970s],and maternity leave[1973]). By the end of the 1970s, women would eventually participate in professional occupations and some even appointed into positions of government, an example of this is the career of Roma Mitchell, who becomes the first Australian woman to become a judge, a Queen's Counsel and the first woman to become Governor of an Australian State.

The Vietnam War did not only see the phenomenal change in traditional Australian values, but it also saw the acceptance of different cultures into what was once a very closed and conservative society. More specifically it saw the transformation of the cultural profile of Australia, where the ethnic composition became diverse. Australia was a country built on migrants, since its colonial times it would only exclusively let in White Europeans, pursuing a monolithic policy known as the "White Australia Policy" which restricted immigrants of certain ethnic backgrounds. The direct consequence of selective immigration gave rise to the 'Yellow Peril' , as Australians became fearful of the infiltration of Asians into Australian society. Many Australians believed if Asians were allowed to come to Australia, then Australian culture would be diluted. Such fears were seen when Australia deported Asian refugees during World War II and disallowed veteran war brides from migrating to Australia. However under the circumstances of the Vietnam War, Australia began accept refugees and the 'boat people' as the Liberal Government led by Malcolm Fraser realized that Australia had obligations to the Indo-Chinese refugees because Australia had participated directly in the war. This is as reflected by Fraser in an interview:

"circumstances (have) led to a northern victory, then you have to live with that northern victory and forget the divisions of that time and Australia needs to promote the best and most cooperative relationships that it can with Vietnam as a whole[...]because we've been stationed in Hanoi for many years now."

The cooperation which Fraser had spoke of came in the form of accepting refugees from resettlement camps in South-East Asia and making immigration agreements with the Vietnamese government. The refugees arrived to Australia ,and by passed the formal immigration procedures as they were soon accepted as immigrants on humanitarian grounds. Although initially, many had been fearful of the migrants' arrival, the change in government policy came with a gradual change in the public perception of the migrants. Australians had started to realize that there were benefits to having people of different races to live alongside one another. They see this as a phase of cultural enrichment. The aftermath of these immigration procedures which took place during and after the Vietnam War resulted in the acceptance of people of different ethnic background and ultimately a multicultural society. The 1978 'Report of the Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services for Migrants' illustrated this idea of tolerance and acceptance in Australian society:

"We are convinced that migrants have the right to maintain their cultural and racial identity and that it is clearly in the best interests of our nation that they should be encouraged and assisted to do so if they wish. Provided that ethnic identity is not stressed at the expense of society at large, but is interwoven into the fabric of our nationhood by the process of multicultural interaction, then the community as a whole will benefit substantially and its democratic nature will be reinforced. [...]
We reject the argument that cultural diversity necessarily creates divisiveness. Rather we believe that hostility and bitterness between groups are often the result of cultural repression."

Multiculturalism became a firm government policy which was officially laid down in 1977 , ensuing the rights of all Australian migrants to equality, opportunity and most importantly cultural identity. In 1978, this propelled Australia into the 'Orderly Departure Program' and by the end of the decade, Australia had accepted over 90,000 Vietnamese refugees.

Indeed the Vietnam War was a catalyst to the many changes as seen in today's Australia. Their involvement had a profound impact on their sense of identity and situated them a place in the world. It has taught them to open up to many contemporary ideas such as accepting the voice of the youth, brought them equality for women in much fairer society, and led to immigration policies which created a multicultural society. Flora Whittemore had said: "The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." Just as the actions of Australia during and after the Vietnam War has opened up the door of dynamic change and eventually led to the Australia we know of today.





Bibliography

Websites:
www.anu.edu.au
www.defence.gov.au
www.ausaid.gov.au
www.curriculum.edu.au
www4.gu.edu.au
www.skwirk.com/.../nsw/australian-culture/australia-in-the-vietnam-war-era/the-impact-of-the-war
www.wikipedia.com/vietnam_war
Books Used:
Australia Since 1890 by Lionel Dennis