Australian Visit

Clip 2: Saturday in Sydney

Taken from the TV program Australian Visit (1967)

Original title classification G – this clip chosen to be G

Curator’s clip description

Air Vice-Marshall Ky and Mme Ky finish their Brisbane visit, and the following day travel to Sydney.

Curator’s notes

The South Vietnamese visitors finished their Brisbane stay and the next day, Saturday 21 January 1967, flew to Sydney. They were met at Kingsford Smith Airport by New South Wales Premier, Robert Askin. As a result of the anti-Vietnam War demonstration in Brisbane the day before, where arrests had been made, more than 300 police were present at the airport. The crowd awaiting the arrival at the airport was however made up mainly of supporters, whom the Kys were relieved to see. Most members of the anti-Vietnam War movement in Sydney that day were attending a demonstration organised by the Vietnam Action Committee. A crowd of up to 10,000 people rallied under the Harbour Bridge at Milson’s Point, where they were addressed by Arthur Calwell. A large number (the narration in this clip refers to it as 3,000, whereas the Vietnam Action Committee recorded it as over 5,000) then marched to Kirribilli House, the Prime Minister’s Sydney residence. Shots of the rally are conspicuously absent from this clip. Rather the footage follows the touring party around Sydney, as its route is altered to avoid the demonstration.

The footage skilfully presents Ky and his wife in a glamorous light, framing them like film stars at the top of the stairs into the plane. The motorcade is dwelt on at length and nicely shot for maximum impact.

Adrienne Parr, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This black-and-white clip with commentary shows scenes from the visit of South Vietnamese Premier Air Vice-Marshall Ky to Australia in January 1967. A scene of Ky’s wife inside a car, being greeted by well-wishers in Brisbane, is followed by footage showing her and her husband leaving Brisbane Airport and later arriving in Sydney. At Sydney Airport they are welcomed by New South Wales Premier Robert Askin, before greeting supporters. Scenes of their motorcade, accompanied by music, provide glimpses of supporters with placards lining the streets.

Educational value points

This clip, which is from an ABC news report, portrays the Kys’ visit in a positive light by using footage that focuses on the glamour of the couple and shows their friendly interaction with Vietnam War supporters. The upbeat music accompanying the motorcade footage adds to the celebratory tone.

Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, which were timed to coincide with Ky’s visit, are referred to in the voice-over, although no footage of them is shown. Opposition to the War had been steadily growing since 1966, when Holt announced that Australia’s contribution would be trebled to a force of 4,500 men, including conscripted national servicemen. Leading members of the Opposition Labor Party frequently addressed the anti-War rallies, including the one referred to in this clip.

Although the clip could be described as an effective public relations exercise, the scenes of the motorcade show the high level of security that was put in place for the visit, and this – together with the narrator’s comments about the number of police, the speed of the official cars and the enforced change of route – reflects the government’s concern that demonstrators might disrupt the visit.

Premier Ky’s visit to Australia, on the invitation of Prime Minister Harold Holt, took place during the Vietnam War (1962–75). Australia had entered the War against communist North Vietnam in 1962, in support of the South Vietnamese Government and its ally, the USA. The predicted ‘domino effect’ throughout South-East Asia if one country fell to communism, and the consequent threat to Australia’s national security, had been used effectively by Prime Minister Robert Menzies to justify Australia’s involvement in this civil war.

The clip illustrates the role played by the media in influencing public opinion about the Vietnam War. Footage of atrocities in Vietnam and of the tens of thousands of people protesting against the War, both in Australia and in the USA, had already appeared on Australian television. The footage in this clip provided another perspective on Australia’s involvement, and allowed Australians to see the leader of the country that Australian soldiers were fighting to support.

Nguyen Cao Ky (1930–) became Premier of the Republic of Vietnam in 1965. He visited Australia and other nations to gather support for South Vietnam’s position as a sovereign nation, and to secure military assistance for the fight against the communist forces of North Vietnam. In September 1967 he was elected Vice-President. He retired from politics in 1971 and later settled in the USA. In 2004 he became the first South Vietnamese leader to visit Vietnam since the War.