Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in response to the statement by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs delivered to the House on Wednesday, 22 March 2017. As the minister referred to in his statement, the Korean War is often referred to as the forgotten war. I had cause to reflect upon the speech delivered by the minister. The minister very carefully explained the significance of the Korean War and outlined Australian action in the Korean theatre. It was, nevertheless, very difficult to imagine the times when the Cold War was in its infancy and when, due to an accident of history, the United Nations took up arms in a conflict—a conflict with proxies for the superpowers and a nascent superpower, a conflict which might have escalated to nuclear conflict at any time.

In my legal practice many years ago, I undertook a quite substantial practice in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal addressing DVA claims, which were then appeals from the Veterans Review Board. That was in the 1990s. I was still dealing with World War II veterans, Korean War veterans and of course veterans from the Vietnam War. It always seemed to me that the veterans of World War II easily fell into a particular class, that is with respect to the type of claim and the type of person I was advocating for. Similarly, there are a lot of claims arising out of Vietnam which had similar characteristics.

Korean veterans not only fell between the two in a chronological sense, but also with respect to their profile. There was something about the Korean veterans which spoke of a different experience, something which bound them even more tightly together than the World War II veterans, many of whom had fought in completely different theatres in Europe, North Africa, New Guinea or as prisoners of war, which carried with it another level of complexity. There also seemed to be a historical aspect of the Korean War bracketing the end of the 1940s and the early part of the 1950s. The popular culture that we see that infected Australia, from, in particular, the United States, had not entered into public consciousness until the mid to late 1950s. Even Menzies had yet to consolidate and impose his authority on the Australian electorate at this time. There were big issues yet to be resolved between labour and capital, big issues which were elevated by the tensions of the Cold War.

As the minister notes in his statement, it is more than 60 years since the last of the conflict had ceased. Nevertheless, we are constantly reminded that the conflict has not been formally resolved in that no treaty has been negotiated to put an end to the formal conflict. I wonder, therefore, whether the experience of our troops was similar to that of Vietnam veterans, who had a delayed welcome home because of the public's view as to the merits of the Vietnam War. Whilst it is useful to consider what a totally different world we now live in, from the perspective of more than 60 years after the conclusion of hostilities, we must never forget, when we send our defence forces into harm's way, what it is to serve in the Australian Defence Force. There have been conflicts and peacekeeping missions since Vietnam and, in all cases, the Australian Defence Force has served with distinction. None of these missions and none of these conflicts are entered into lightly. I can readily imagine that the decision of a government to send our armed forces into danger must require careful consideration and, most importantly, accurate information.

My involvement with the veterans community arose primarily through the representation of veterans and their families in determining their entitlement to pension and/or compensation. Not withstanding that the veterans entitlements legislation is beneficial legislation, there are often lengthy delays in assessing and determining a veteran's entitlement to a pension or a benefit. There are very few remaining Second World War veterans, slightly more Korean War veterans and larger populations of veterans of subsequent emergencies and warlike operations. It pains me, and it should pain all of us, that particular veterans are denied entitlements because they have failed to demonstrate that their service—and, in particular, their operational service—or any of the other service preconditions for eligibility have been satisfied.

It is time for the government to accept the claims of veterans, irrespective of whether they meet the narrow requirements set up by the bureaucratic system. It is without doubt that the men and women of our Defence Force have devoted their very lives to the service of this country. On discharge of that duty, they should find a grateful Australian government that is prepared to assist with their rehabilitation, if that is required. It is a bitter pill to swallow that, whilst the Australian Defence Force has had to lay to rest 41 defence personnel on active service between 2000 and 2014, the veteran community has experienced 292 deaths by suicide. It is time that we—all of us—work together with our veterans to benefit our veterans.

Debate adjourned.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:23

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