Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak on the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2017 and state from the outset that Labor will be supporting these measures. This bill contains three schedules which seek to undertake the legislative reform which underpins three elements of the 2017-18 Department of Veterans' Affairs budget. The first and probably most significant schedule amends the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act 2006 to provide Australian participants in British Nuclear Tests (BNT), British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), pastoralists, civilians and Indigenous people with full health coverage for all conditions. This is a significant move. Currently, the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act 2006 only provides Australian BNT participants with testing and treatment for malignant cancers.

Under these changes a broader class of civilians and BCOF veterans will be eligible to receive treatment for all conditions. This coverage will enable these individuals to access DVA funding for all clinically necessary healthcare needs and all health conditions. These changes are the result of a long and hard-fought campaign over many decades for recognition of the BNT and BCOF participants. As many members here may be aware, from October 1952 until October 1957, 12 British atomic weapons tests were conducted at Montebello Islands, off the west coast of Western Australia, and at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia. There were also 600 minor trials, including the testing of bomb components between 1953 and 1963 at Emu Field and Maralinga.

Both military and civilian personnel participated in the tests, with a nominal roll established listing a total of 16,716 persons, comprising of 8,126 service personnel and 8,590 civilians. These 16,716 people performed a range of tasks on and around the site with military personnel undertaking a number of duties including decontamination teams and atomic-cloud sampling and tracking operations. Civilians, who were employed by the Commonwealth or by contractors, provided construction, maintenance and support services relating to the conduct of these tests. In addition there was also a number of Commonwealth police officers and members of the Australian Federal Police on site. Of course it was not just those posted to the site or employed by the Commonwealth who were impacted by these tests. The impact of the detonations spread far and wide, affecting pastoralists, civilians and the Indigenous population.

Over the years, many surveys and reports have been undertaken investigating the long-term impact of the British nuclear tests on participants and other civilians who were in the vicinity of the tests. BNT participants recall being required to line up with their backs to the detonation with their hands over their eyes for the first minute or so and then told to turn around and witness the mushroom cloud of the blast. One witness, who provided a statement to the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia undertaken in 1985, recalled:

The flash was so strong that we could see the bones in our hands and the outline of the huts in the background even through closed eyes. We could see the shock wave moving towards us as it came over the scrub and when it hit us, it knocked us off our feet.

In addition, it is claimed that few wore anything more than shorts or service uniforms to witness the blasts. In a statement to the royal commission, a leading aircraftsman within the RAAF recalled using a Geiger counter, which measures ionizing radiation, and stated:

… every man showed some degree of radio-activity. I cannot remember the level of the readings but there were some that went off the scale, indicating that they had had the highest possible dose which could be registered.

Of course, we are now all too aware of the dangers of radiation and the risks these participants and civilians were in as a result of this exposure. We know that radiation with sufficient energy can cause chemical changes in cells and cause cancer, and acknowledge how dangerous these conditions were and the ongoing impact that this has had on participants lives and on the lives of pastoralists and Indigenous people living in the area.

The impact of these tests on the traditional owners of the land is particularly complex. Prior to the tests, the government attempted to move Indigenous people away from the sites with little regard for their connection to their land. This had the dual impact of fragmenting families and, anecdotally, was not always successful. A patrol officer was given the task of finding and warning all Indigenous people in an 80,000 square kilometre area, and it has been suggested that groups would move out of the area and then return once that patrol had moved on.

At the 1953 test in Emu Field, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the area described an extraordinary black mist which stuck on vegetation and household items. An Indigenous man who was walking on the edge of the test site stated:

We thought it was the spirit of our gods rising up to speak with us. Then we saw the spirit had made all the kangaroos fall down on the ground as a gift to us of easy hunting so we took those kangaroos and we ate them and people were sick and then the spirit left.

The ongoing impacts of these tests are significant, and it is appropriate that full healthcare cover be provided to Indigenous people in addition to the BNT participants and pastoralists. These amendments will ensure that any pastoralists and Indigenous persons in the vicinity of the nuclear test areas as well as any other civilians who were present in the areas during the relevant period will be covered. In addition to BNT participants and civilians, BCOF veterans will also be able to access full health coverage.

The BCOF comprised elements drawn from the armed forces of Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and India. It was the first time Australians were involved in a military occupation of a sovereign nation that Australia has defeated in war. BCOF's primary objective was to enforce the terms of the unconditional surrender that ended the war in September 1945. BCOF was required to maintain military control and supervise the demilitarisation of Japan and the dismantling of its war infrastructure.

The impact for those who served as part of the BCOF was significant, with some having been allocated to the severely devastated prefecture of Hiroshima. The BCOF had to work through considerable stocks of war material, including chemical agents and ordnance, to render them safe or to destroy them, exposing them to radioactive material. As we know, this would have had a considerable long-lasting effect. The ongoing impact of these tests has been subject to a number of studies, including the 2006 mortality and cancer incidence study of the BNT participants. This report found that the death rate from cancer was 17 per cent higher in this group than in the general population and the incidence of cancer was 23 per cent higher than expected.

Regardless of the result, the findings of the study did not implicate radiation exposure in the higher than expected mortality and morbidity finding. But veterans and others challenged the finding as those who passed away before 1982 were not included in this study. Without including these people the study did not provide the full picture of the impact of radiation on these participants. Following the release of this report the government finally acknowledged that these participants had a clearly defined healthcare need and established the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act 2006. The 2006 bill provided eligible persons with access to free cancer treatment and ongoing tests. However, it did not provide redress to participants as the service was rendered during peacetime; and, as such, they were covered by military and workers' compensation arrangements.

In 2010 the then Labor government sought to provide additional assistance to BNT participants who were also members of the Australian Defence Force by reclassifying their service as non-warlike or hazardous peacekeeping service; and, as such, they were able to access some assistance under the Veterans' Entitlements Act, including access to the disability pension. The amendments in schedule 1 build on these changes. Labor welcomes the expansion of full health cover to BNT participants, BCOF veterans and civilians, which will enable them to receive the treatment that they need and acknowledges the ongoing impact this exposure had on the individuals who were present on the test sites.

This recognition is the result of a long campaign by BNT and BCOF participants. These individuals, nearly all of whom are over 80 years of age, have spent their lives fighting for recognition of the risks they endured and the need for increased support—people like Avon Hudson, from South Australia, who has been working and agitating for change for decades. I understand that approximately 2,900 BNT and BCOF participants will benefit from these changes. As previously mentioned, the expansion will also include the pastoralists and Indigenous people who were present in the test area during the prescribed time frame.

I take this opportunity in a bipartisan way to encourage those eligible for this full health coverage to register with the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I understand also that the department and the government will look at many avenues to ensure that those who do not understand that they are eligible for this treatment will be contacted. A number of communication methods will be used to ensure as many people as possible actually get access to what they are entitled to. I strongly support that and I encourage the government to make all efforts in this area.

These amendments recognise it is appropriate to provide treatment for all conditions for BNT participants, BCOF veterans and civilians who were present during the British nuclear tests during the relevant period, and this is the right thing to do.

The second schedule in this bill seeks to amend the current outdated work history restrictions for the special and intermediate rates of disability pension provided in the VEA to better reflect modern working arrangements. Particularly, this will affect claimants over 65 years of age, who must satisfy the above criteria that they have been working with the same employer for 10 years or, in the case of the self-employed, they have to have worked in the same profession, trade, vocation or calling. This criteria is somewhat outdated. Under schedule 2, these changes will ensure that the work history will only require 10 years of continuous work in any field or vocation.

This amendment acknowledges that the nature of work has changed. Over the course of a lifetime, an individual may have a number of different careers with a variety of employers. It is now far less common for a person to remain employed by a single employer for 10 years or remain in the same vocation or field in the case of the self-employed. Labor is supportive of this change which reflects the reality of modern-day work.

The third schedule in this bill seeks to insert instrument making powers into the Safety, Rehabilitation Compensation Act 1988 and the Military, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, enabling the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission to determine a class of persons eligible to participate in an early access to the rehabilitation pilot program. Under the current arrangements, those clients who are under what are currently known as the SRCA and MRCA are required to wait until their claim has been finalised before they are able to access rehabilitation services. This can take around four months to be completed and if the cases are complex, it can take even longer.

Early intervention in relation to rehabilitation obviously has proven benefits, and Labor is supportive of this measure that would look at enabling veterans to access rehabilitation earlier. The importance of this was highlighted in the 2011 MRCA review, which recognises the need for early intervention and noted that access to rehabilitation as soon as a claim is lodged is desirable. Early access to rehabilitation facilitates participation in economic activities and ensures that there are better benefits for wellbeing.

In addition to early intervention in rehabilitation, through-care is equally important. This is an issue that has been raised with me by a number of veterans, most recently at Raymond Terrace in NSW with the member for Paterson. Veterans have highlighted issues where they have begun rehabilitation while still in Defence, which then has stopped while liability was being determined by DVA. Not only does this gap delay improvement but it can also result in a veteran's progress and recovery going backwards. I trust this is an area that could be considered as part of the trial in the pilot program.

Under these amendments, a six-month pilot program will be established by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, involving 100 people whose claims are viewed as likely to be approved. The program will be entirely voluntary with the option of opting out. We have been assured that if the claim for liability is later rejected, the department will transition to individual to a community-based rehabilitation provider to continue their treatment if they wish. Importantly, the MRCC will not seek to recover the costs of the rehabilitation services provided through the trial. These are important assurances that have been provided to Labor. While the trial is initially limited to 100 veterans, I am hopeful that this is just the start and that it will identify good results so that this trial will be able to be extended to more veterans.

Labor is always supportive of processes which are designed to improve outcomes for our ex-serving defence personnel. We certainly think these measures are needed and good. That is why Labor will support these measures. I commend the bill to the House.

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