Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to commend that very powerful and passionate speech from my colleague, the member for Solomon, who has been an active advocate for veterans for many, many years, including before he came into politics. You can tell from the passion and the power of that speech that he really feels this. I really do want to commend him for that heartfelt speech, that powerful speech, that passionate speech, and also his commitment and constant advocacy for our veterans. I thank him so much. It was an honour to be in the chamber to hear it.

It is an honour to speak on the Veterans' Entitlement Amendment Bill 2018. It's long overdue, as many of my colleagues have said. I welcome the fact that the opposition has suggested an amendment—that, whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes with concern that the government has undermined veterans' access to health services. We heard from the member for Solomon and we heard from the member for Lingiari and we heard from so many of my colleagues, including the member for Eden-Monaro. Two out of three of those men have served our nation in the Australian Defence Force. One was a former minister for defence personnel and veterans' affairs. These are men with lots of personal experience, as well as experience learnt through conversations with veterans over decades and decades. As we heard from them, there are significant challenges facing the veterans community when it comes to health—not just physical health but also mental health.

Currently, as we know, DVA's fee schedule, known as the Repatriation Medical Fee Schedule, is linked to the Medicare Benefits Schedule and MBS rebates. As a consequence of the government's ongoing Medicare freeze, the Veterans' Affairs fee schedule has remained stagnant since 2014. This has led to the situation where the DVA rebate is no longer covering the cost of medical treatment and, because our veterans cannot be charged a gap payment, some medical and allied health professionals have had no choice but to turn DVA clients away. We've heard of the firsthand experiences that our members have had in terms of dealing with veterans who have been turned away. As the member for Solomon said, he's begged medical professionals and mental health professionals to take on these clients. He's begged them because they have been turned away.

What this means is that veterans are now starting to suffer from reduced access to medical services for their physical and mental health needs, and reduced access means veterans are less likely to see their medical specialists unless they fork out cash or their credit card, rather than using their DVA card. In other words, DVA white cards and gold cards are no longer a vet's rolled-gold access to specialist services, as specialists can't charge fees on the client's card. We're talking about access to services, such as psychologists and other allied health clinicians, being denied to these veterans because of the Medicare freeze. It is absolutely outrageous, which is why I commend my colleague the shadow minister for veterans' affairs for actually putting this amendment forward and those who have spoken about their direct experiences of what this actually means.

The undermining of veterans' access to health services by this government, by those opposite, stemming from that appalling 2014 budget, is having a significant impact on those who have proudly served our nation, who have given their all to defend our nation, to defend our national security, to help others in need. And how does this government repay them? I again commend my colleagues who have spoken on this bill and I also commend the shadow minister for veterans' affairs for moving this very, very important amendment.

In discussing the great work being done by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, I just want to draw the House's attention to three major initiatives that she has introduced since she has taken on this portfolio. The first was announced just recently. The shadow minister announced that a Shorten Labor government, should it be elected, would put in place a formal agreement to ensure the nation's armed forces were fully supported during and after their service. We will legislate regular reporting to parliament on how Australia is supporting military personnel.

Labor, under a Shorten Labor government, should we be elected, will sign Australia's first military covenant, recognising the immense commitment our armed forces make to serve their country, to formalise our nation's commitment to look after those who have served for our nation. The covenant will be similar to the United Kingdom's Armed Forces Covenant, a principles document that promises that those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families will be treated fairly. A Shorten Labor government, should we be elected, will work with the Australian Defence Force and Department of Veterans' Affairs and ex-service organisations to draft the relevant wording of a military covenant and associated legislation.

Labor would also, should we be elected, introduce legislation that would require future governments to report annually to parliament on how they are meeting their responsibilities to support our serving and ex-service personnel so that it doesn't slip under the radar. It is vitally important that we continue to discuss improving transparency and improving accountability to ensure that we are providing the best service for our veterans and the best service for our serving personnel so that there are no blind spots and so that those gaps are addressed.

I also want to draw attention to another initiative that my colleague announced—last year, actually, but it again highlights the fact that she has been very active in this space, and I applaud her for that. It's not just veterans that we are talking about here and it is not just current serving members, men and women, that we are talking about here; we are also talking about the families. You know, Deputy Speaker Hastie—you've served—that it is not just the serving member who does it tough, who faces a number of challenges; it is also the families who are there supporting them. When you're off serving your nation in Afghanistan, with your family at home not knowing where you are and whether you're okay, it does place an enormous strain on families back home who are trying to provide the most support possible to you. So I was delighted that my colleague, the shadow minister, also said that should a Shorten Labor government be elected we would develop a family engagement and support strategy for defence personnel and veterans to provide greater support to our military families. They play a pivotal role in supporting our current serving ADF men and women and our veterans, and it's important that we ensure that we give them the support they need to address the unique challenges of military family life.

I want to focus on the initiative that was launched by my colleague, the member for Eden-Monaro, the shadow minister and myself in March this year. It is a comprehensive veterans package, a veterans employment policy, that we committed $121 million to, should we be elected, to provide greater support to our defence personnel as they transition to civilian life. The figures are quite staggering. You would probably be aware of them, Deputy Speaker Hastie, but best estimates cite that veterans' unemployment is currently sitting at 30 per cent. Thirty per cent of our veterans, those who have served our nation, are unemployed. And, for those who did not medically discharge, there is an estimated 11.2 per cent unemployment rate, which is more than double the national average. This is absolutely unacceptable.

That is why this employment policy is well overdue and very, very welcome. And it comes from opposition. I will very quickly run through and translate the policy. It ensures that veterans receive recognition of prior skills and experience within civilian professional organisations and institutions. It ensures that eligible businesses will be provided with a training grant of up to $5,000 in order to help veterans gain the skills and experience they need to move into a civilian job. It will establish an employment and transition service that provides greater individualised, tailored support to transitioning veterans over a longer period of time. There is a range of initiatives in this employment package. Again I commend my colleague, the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, for the extensive consultation she did in developing this strategy and for coming up with such a comprehensive policy, which addresses so many of those areas that are currently being overlooked.

Finally, I want to focus on two events that I went to recently that commemorated and honoured the veterans who have served our nation and also those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Just last Friday I joined the new foreign minister, the former defence minister, for the commemoration of the National Service Memorial at the National Service Memorial Day at the Australian War Memorial. Thousands of Australian men undertook national service in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, and that was commemorated last Friday. My father did national service in the 1950s. A lot of Australians tend to overlook the scale of national service in this country. Between 1951 and 1959, 18-year-old men were required to register for national service, and over 220,000 underwent six months of compulsory military training in the Navy, Army or Air Force. The exact figure is actually 227,000. At the event on the national service day on Friday we had an opportunity to commemorate those, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice in their national service.

We also had the opportunity to honour the fact that one of the national servicemen, Allen May, donated his medals to the Australian War Memorial. It was a very, very special moment. Mr May was 21 when he was conscripted in 1965 to Vietnam. After arriving in Vietnam, he became a forward scout. Historians believe he fired the first shots in what became known as the Battle of Long Tan. It was a beautiful gesture to present those medals to the War Memorial. They will be a constant reminder to all of us here in Australia and to anyone who visits the Australian War Memorial of the significant contribution that our national servicemen made to our nation over all that period of time, and a constant reminder of those who, in national service, made the ultimate sacrifice. I don't know whether many Australians really understand the scale of the national servicemen who served for that very, very lengthy period of time. It was an honour to be there at that very special memorial, which is nearly 10 years old, alongside the War Memorial with national service veterans. There were some veterans from Canberra and there were some veterans who had travelled from all over the country. It was a great honour to be with them to commemorate their service and to honour their mates who didn't make it home.

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