Minister visits Ap Suoi Nghe DPR/TV/817

The Minister for the Army, Mr Phillip Lynch, lost no time during his visit to Vietnam in meeting officers and men serving in the theatre and with familiarising himself with Phuoc Tuy province, home of the 1st Australian Task Force. High on the Minister's programme was a visit to the refugee resettlement village of Ap Suoi Nghe, two miles north of the task force base at Nui Dat. The village, under the sponsorship and assistance of Australian troops through the 1st Australian Civil Affairs Unit, now has a population of 1,200 refugees, only seven months after it was founded. Mr Lynch toured the entire village and saw at first hand the progress the villagers are making themselves in setting up small local industries - one of the greatest steps to the complete rehabiliatation of the villagers. On his schedule was a visit to a basket weaver's home and the site of charcoal kilns. He was briefed on the village by the commanding officer of the civil affairs unit, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Latchford of Mosman, NSW. From Ap Suoi Nghe, the Minister made a flying visit to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Phil Bennett of Perth, WA. The main party of the battalion arrived in Vietnam to relieve the 7th Battalion only three days before the visit. From Nui Dat, Mr Lynch returned to Saigon in preparation for a visit to the Australian Logistic Support Group at Vung Tau the next day. (Also identified: Secretary of the Army, Mr Bruce White; Commander of the Australian Force, Vietnam, Major General A. L. McDonald; Commander 1st Australian Task Force, Brigadier Ron Hughes of Stafford Heights, Qld)