Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

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return to Australia, the soldiers had no sort of welcome home parade, making the soldiers feel guilty for the war, and that they put shame on the entire country for their actions in protecting Australia by risking their lives for the country and her allies. As a result of this, many soldiers struggled to adapt to daily life back in Australia and were in some cases, shunned by the public for what they had done. Furthermore, this led to many soldiers feeling alienated and isolated from their families and from their lives before the war, as they were both mentally and physically scarred by the war. As said in the song ‘Khe Sanh’ by ‘Cold Chisel’ a famous Australian rock band ‘There were no V-day heroes in 1973’. This line further emphasises the fact that the soldiers were not welcomed back to Australia with the same sense of pride or anywhere near the same sense of welcoming and gratitude like there had been in World War One, and World War Two, but instead were unrecognised and unthanked for the sacrifices that they had made in Vietnam for the country. (Genius, 2018) As mentioned previously, almost 145,000 refugees came into Australia over the decade after the Vietnam war had concluded, with some coming with the Orderly Departure Program, others to escape from the communist regime in Vietnam. However, these people, although creating a strong sense of multiculturalism within Australia, there was a belief among the population that this would kill Australian culture and instead lead to a changed Australia. This caused unrest among a proportion of the population, who feared this change and did not accept it at all. From this it can be seen that there were many physical and mental impacts that the Vietnam war had on the people of the time in Australia, and future generations. Australia politically had many different reactions to the outbreak of the Vietnam war. The Australian Liberal Party were very strongly behind Prime Minister Menzies, showing great amounts of support for the war. The support was much less vociferous in the Senate compared to the lower house of parliament. Unlike the Australian Labour Party (ALP), there