Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am disgusted with the government's continuing inaction on the reclassification of some peacekeeper service from non-warlike to warlike. I asked the Prime Minister in question time on 18 October last year about the case of Ray Williams and his horrid peacekeeper experience in Lebanon in 1983 and 1984. Ray was shot at and shelled but had no weapon, body armour or support. He suffers PTSD and has been fighting for 18 years to have his service recognised as warlike. I was assured by the PM that the relevant Defence review would be completed last year, but here we are at the end of February and still nothing has happened. I can only assume the government is morbidly hoping that the vets dying of old age will resolve the matter. The madness of this situation is reflected in Defence's own report which describes the environment in which Ray served as:

... exposed to both operational and environmental risks, such as collateral damage, criminal assault, kidnapping (for hostage or other purposes), rocket and artillery attacks, mines and unexploded ordnance, IEDs, direct military attack, psychological injury and fatigue, and disease.

This episode makes a mockery of any claim by the government that they care about veterans. It needs to be sorted and it needs to be sorted now.

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