Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Industry and Support) Share this | Hansard source

Could I take this opportunity to echo the remarks of colleagues on the passing of President Bush Sr. My first operational deployment was actually at the behest of President Bush when he, as my American colleagues would probably say, managed to round up an international posse to go into Somalia to put an end to the genocide and the horrendous loss of life that was going on in Somalia at the time. He was operating in the follow-on years from the first Gulf War, where there was a new optimism about the ability to harness international effort to resolve the world's problems. His leadership in that instance was also something I think we can reflect on positively.

I have enormous respect for this man, as a World War II veteran and in every other endeavour of his life. He was a great success in many ways. The only issue I would take is that I do have a personal view about how the first Gulf War was concluded. Having gone back and served in Iraq for a year, from 2003 to 2004, I think there were some issues that the whole coalition of the willing could have done better, but that's for another day. But I do really want to echo my respect for the President and his standard of politics that he set in the US.

In moving on to this ministerial statement by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I would also like to indicate my respect for him, my electoral neighbour in Gippsland. He's also a friend, and I really do appreciate his goodwill and his endeavour in this space. He came into it at short notice, with changes of portfolio responsibilities, but I know his heart is in the right place in what he is attempting to do. There were a lot of good things in the statement that he gave in relation to the veterans space, and it is a good example of the spirit of bipartisanship that pervades this building in our respect for and endeavour to do better by our veterans. It's not always replicated in other areas. I would encourage the Minister for Defence to adopt a more bipartisan tone now he is the Minister for Defence. Often the statements that he makes in relation to the previous Labor government and funding are simply incorrect. I would ask him to think on that.

Today I mainly want to reflect on veterans' issues, particularly issues that were mentioned in the statement, such as the Invictus Games. I want to pay tribute to two of my veterans who were at the Invictus Games, a really fantastic initiative of Prince Harry, who himself is a veteran, of course. Ben Farinazzo suffered some really serious injuries as a result of his attempts to come to grips with his PTS. Ben really did us proud and came home with a bag of medals and gold from his powerlifting and indoor rowing. Ruth Hunt, from out at Googong, is a tremendous swimmer. She had life-threatening battles to overcome, and really did us proud with the swag of medals she picked up in the swimming. She went in a number of events and came home with the gold as well. I salute Ben and Ruth for representing not only our nation in uniform but also our region so well at the games.

I am glad to see that now we are also all on board with the idea of pursuing a military covenant. I raised that and hoped that the minister would come on board, and he did. Well done to the minister for doing that. In addition, there are lots of initiatives being pursued in the veterans employment space. I would ask the minister to perhaps take a look at the policy that the shadow minister has announced on the transition processes. I think more support is required in that transition process. It is really a critical issue for veterans and ex-service people moving into civilian life. I know how rough that road can be. Certainly some roads are easier than others, but the transition process needs support in the training sphere. It needs support in skilling up our people and helping to manage their careers in the early phases of separation from the ADF. So I would urge the minister to take a look at the package that we propose there.

I am also pleased that we were able to get the Senate inquiry into the malarial drugs issue, which is a matter of great concern to a lot of veterans. I was fortunate to have been under the doxycycline regime in all of the missions I went on and so didn't get affected by these later-generation malarial drugs. But there is an issue to be answered there, so I am really pleased that the Senate inquiry is pushing on with that.

A lot of veterans also raise with me—and with all of us many times, I know—the issue of bringing the CSC under the royal commission into the banks. Other superannuation organisations were, but they had a lot of issues they wanted to tease out in that. It didn't happen in the end, so I would urge the government to look at other ways to inquire into that issue. Veterans are seriously concerned about this, and we owe it to them to take that concern seriously and investigate it one way or another, even if it didn't come under the royal commission.

In meeting with wonderful veterans' advocates, like Richard Stone in my electorate and his colleague, Allan Anforth, they have raised with me serious issues about the quality of advocacy that's available to veterans in tackling the incredibly complex metrics of legislation and regimes that cover different types of service and situations. It really is a very difficult maze for a veteran to navigate. The acronyms MRCA, SRCA and DRCA sound like a weird comedy routine, but it's not funny for our veterans. The challenges of putting together those processes and entering the DVA regime are a bit of a nightmare at times. I would also like it if the suggestions that Richard and Allan have put forward on improving quality of advocacy could be looked at. Allan made submissions to the Senate inquiry on that issue. I would also urge that the Medicare rebate freeze be lifted, because a lot of doctors and veterans have been raising the effect of that on them, particularly in mental health services. That really does need to be looked at again.

There are also issues about commemoration raised in the statement. I was really pleased to represent the Leader of the Opposition on 23 November at the 70th anniversary of the Royal Australian Regiment. There were some wonderful old soldiers from the regiment present on that day. It was a very rare trooping of all of the colours—a special moment that anybody who has served will appreciate. It's such a rare event to have all the colours trooped at the same time. It was wonderful to have so many tremendous veterans and heroes of our nation who served in the regiment there that day. There were people like Michael Jeffery—really wonderful people who went on to do other service for our nation, as he did as Governor-General.

Also, on the weekend I was at the annual Legacy Christmas lunch at the Roos Club in Queanbeyan. I want to pay special tribute to Jack Sealey, one of our few surviving World War II veterans these days, who had his 94th birthday and managed to be promoted to Senior Legatee within the organisation. I pay tribute to the work of Legacy in our area under the stewardship of Suzanne McInnes. The crew put on a great lunch. It was really a celebration of the wonderful work they've done throughout the year. The Legatees are all outstanding members of our community and are doing wonderful work with their awards and with the Legacy cause.

Similarly, we had the RSL Christmas lunch on Sunday. Matt Helm—who's been president for, as some people joked, 'longer than Vladimir Putin'—picked up the reins and really carried forward the cause for veterans, for continuing support for the ADF and for investment in security. He is doing a wonderful job. It was a great gathering in the proud tradition of the veterans we have in our region and their families who support them. I really thank all of the crew at the RSL not only for the wonderful lunch they put on that day but also for all of the work they've done throughout year.

It was my privilege to meet, not long ago, with the Partners of Veterans Association of Australia, here in the ACT. We do focus a lot on the veterans, as we should, but some of the burdens of the families are not properly understood. That is where we have to be honest and confront some of the issues that can emerge from service, like domestic violence, self-medication, alcohol abuse and that sort of thing. These women have been through a hell of a lot in many ways. We do have to take seriously the issues that emerge from domestic violence, with safe accommodation and safe housing for them. That is an issue they raised with me. It was a great privilege to meet with them and to be more apprised of some of the nuts-and-bolts issues that the partners of our veterans are facing. I really hope that their voices are heard by the opposition and by the government in the years ahead because we have a whole new generation coming through now. The issue of suicide has obviously come up in the context of Senate inquiries into mental health. I look forward to the further Productivity Commission work that's being done in that mental health space, but we have a long road to go. We have an unacceptable level of suicide of that generation of veterans—my generation—that must be seriously addressed. I commend the statement and commend the work of the shadow minister as well in this space.

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