Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2017 contains three schedules, and I particularly wish to focus on schedule 1. It legislates treatment for all conditions for participants in the British Nuclear Testing Program in Australia and the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and civilians who were present at a nuclear test area during a relevant period. This last category includes the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples of Central Australia. They have fought for many years for recognition of the impact of the British Nuclear Testing Program on their country and people. In 2010 the then Labor government provided additional assistance to the British nuclear test veterans who were also members of the ADF. This gave some of them access to some assistance, and the current amendments build on these changes. They extend treatment to occupational forces, veterans and civilians as well as full health coverage for all conditions.

Under these changes a broader class of civilians and Australian veterans will be eligible for treatment—pastoralists, other civilians and Indigenous Australians, like the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples who were in the vicinity of the nuclear test areas—and they will be covered. The changes have been welcomed by veterans, many of whom had experienced significant health complications. They are a result of many years of campaigning and as a result of campaigning by Aboriginal organisations and individuals such as Yami Lester, who as a 10-year-old lost his sight after British nuclear testing at Emu Field.

Labor welcomes these amendments. Not only do they enable veterans and civilians to receive the treatment they deserve; they also provide acknowledgement of their experiences and the long-lasting consequences they have endured. Sadly, many of those impacted have long passed. They were unable to access support and services. They have gone, but before they could know the dignity of acceptance of their experiences. These amendments provide an opportunity for us to reflect on all the men and women, Defence personnel and civilians, who have been impacted by war during peacetime.

I would like to particularly acknowledge a long-forgotten part of our military history, the occupation forces. Members of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force who were based in Japan from 1945 to 1952 included Australian troops who arrived there in February 1946. For two-thirds of the period of occupation the Commonwealth was represented solely by Australians. Throughout its existence the force was always commanded by an Australian officer and, although small when compared with the US occupation force, the Australians made a strong contribution proportionally to our population—as always has been the case. Australia has always fought above its weight.

From 1946 to 1952 Australian forces were responsible for the military occupation of Hiroshima Prefecture. About 16,000 Australians served there in the force. At the peak of its involvement the Australian force was responsible for over 20 million Japanese citizens and 57,000 square kilometres of country. It is worth reflecting on the role that those 16,000 Australians played for our country after the war. Their role was to disarm and demilitarise the former enemy and rebuild its basic infrastructure, including democracy after the long period that Japan was under imperial rule. I wish to acknowledge all Australians—as I said, around 16,000 of them—who served in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. These amendments are for them.

I acknowledge also those impacted by British nuclear testing at sites like Emu Field and Maralinga. These amendments are for those people, too—people like Yami Lester. They act as a reminder of our history and the often shameful way we have treated veterans and those impacted by activities involving exposure to hazardous materials and chemical agents. I remember as a young boy Dad's equipment from the Vietnam War being in Pop's back shed. I remember wanting to play with it when I was a boy—even then I think I wanted to join the Army, as Dad had and as Pop had—but I remember Dad saying, 'No, don't play with that stuff yet because we need to give it a good wash—there was this stuff called agent orange.' It took some time for the harmful effects of that chemical to be known, and it behoves us to do our bit to make sure that our veterans, who may have been exposed to any form of hazardous materials or drugs, are looked after.

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