Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We often speak in this chamber about the value we place on our service men and women and the risks they take on our behalf every day of their service. It is therefore of utmost importance that we support our troops in any way that we can. This was apparent in 2007, when both sides of this House supported the establishment of the Australian Military Court. However, as an outcome of the case of Lane v Morrison, it became necessary to change the legislative framework for the court. This occurred back in 2009. At the time, the Minister for Defence said that establishing a correctly constituted military court was of the highest priority for the government. However, two years on, we are no closer to seeing this statement become a reality.

In fact, in May this year, the current Minister for Defence advised that the legislation is still in formulation stage and is unlikely to be resolved by September this year—the original time line put forward by the government. And this is why we are here today, moving an amendment to effectively allow an extension of the time line for the government to implement legislation for which they had set their own timing—legislation they once stated was of the highest priority. If it takes two years to get to formulation stage of legislation for an issue of highest priority, it raises serious questions as to the capacity of this government. This failure to meet their own standards is yet another example of a broken Labor promise, of letting down the very people they should be supporting. We have seen it with home insulation, GroceryWatch, Fuelwatch, the cash-for-clunkers scheme and the green loans program. I am concerned that when an issue is labelled 'high priority' by this government those words may very well be its kiss of death. Who could forget the former Prime Minister's words that an ETS would address 'the greatest moral issue of our time'? We now have no ETS legislation and just another tax to deal with the problem. Of course, it is important that the legislation to establish the court be properly and effectively drafted, but surely the minister could explain to the House why it is that we have this delay.

Failure in the area of the Australian Military Court is simply not good enough. We must support our troops. They must know what is in store for them, and what avenues they have—we cannot continue to leave them in limbo. The uncertainty surrounding this legislation and the uncertainty surrounding an area that affects our servicemen's and servicewomen's lives do not provide them the support that they deserve. This amendment does allow the existing interim arrangements to continue, but the point is that both the government and the coalition acknowledge the need for change. Equally, our servicemen and servicewomen would be well served by the Australian Military Court. This was established after a series of Senate committee reports over a number of years that recommended extensive changes to the military justice system. Those who handle military discipline require a critical understanding of the nature of service—in fact, there are offences, such as going absent without leave, that apply only in a military sense. It is particularly important that the Australian Defence Force be able to deal with discipline and criminal conduct under a military code of conduct, and this is especially necessary during overseas deployment. This is something with which a regular court would struggle.

Perhaps most importantly, however, is that the nature of military service is unique. The fundamental basis of this legislation is that a military court is about discipline of the defence forces, and that is what the entire Defence Force Discipline Act is designed to ensure. We recognise the unique nature of service—and with that comes a need for unique disciplinary measures. We must aim for world's best practice in all areas within our Defence Force, including that disciplinary system. An Australian military court, operating under world's best practice administration, is a necessary step toward this.

Military discipline is a tough issue. It is sensitive, can be emotional and is difficult for non-military personnel to understand, but it is vitally important to provide certainty and stability to those who serve our country. More than just putting out press releases stating an intention to re-establish the court, as we saw last year, the government must now actually make this happen, genuinely make writing the full legislation for an Australian military court their highest priority. For once this government must actually match the words 'highest priority' with real action, not more excuses for their failure.

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