Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Imagine a country where a man or a woman who has served their country in uniform requires assistance from the government and gets it, without having to jump through a tortuous serious of loops, where veterans can call the DVA and get hold of someone straight away, who then goes out of their way to help that veteran in every way they can, who regularly stays in touch to keep that veteran informed of progresses of their concern, a country where the DVA treats every veteran with courtesy and respect. We are not in that country yet but it is hoped that the passage of this bill will get us closer to it. Labor is supporting the Australian Veterans’ Recognition (Putting Veterans and Their Families First) Bill 2019, just as we did when it came before the parliament in the weeks before the 18 May election. We all hoped, back in April, that it would get through the parliament before the election but, unfortunately, that did not happen. I'm pleased the government saw fit to place the bill back on the parliamentary schedule on 4 July so that its measures can finally become law.

Labor does continue to harbour concerns that this bill does not cover currently serving personnel but, in the interests of bipartisanship and a speedy resolution, particularly as the bill has the support of the veterans' community, Labor is backing the bill without amendment. Importantly, this bill establishes the Australian Defence Veterans' Covenant. As members are aware, back in September 2018, eight months before the election, Labor announced that if we were to win government, we would establish a military covenant based on the UK Armed Forces Covenant. In February of this year, the government presented its own version, absent of the provisions for currently serving personnel.

The bill is symbolic. It enshrines in legislation the social contract established at the end of World War I for the nation to honour and look after our veterans. It does not create nor give rise to any new legal rights or obligations and does not allow veterans to revisit or re-litigate previous cases or causes, for example, around claims for compensation. The key difference between our promise on this side and the covenant the government subsequently put to the parliament is that ours would have also covered current Defence personnel and families. Labor does stand by its view that excising current serving personnel from the covenant is a mistake, but we have no wish to put obstacles in the way of a bill that we otherwise strongly support and which we would have enacted if we were in government. In addition, Labor would have preferred to see in the covenant a requirement for annual reporting in the form of an official statement to the parliament on how the government is meeting its obligation to current and ex-serving personnel. Good intentions are one thing, but the prospect of shortcomings being exposed can serve as a handy incentive to action.

Tasmania has a strong history of involvement in Australia's Defence Force and military activities. In World War I, approximately 15,000 men and some women went to war from a small population of just over 200,000 people. Today, that would be like 37,500 Tasmanians signing up, the combined populations of all the men, women and children in the towns of Sorell, Brighton, Longford, St Helens, New Norfolk, Deloraine, Bridgewater, Prospect Vale, Campbell Town, Sheffield, Westbury, Swansea, Cressy and Richmond in my electorate. Tasmanians again showed their mettle in World War II, Vietnam and the host of conflicts that have come since. And Tasmania's military history is a rich one. Fourteen Tasmanians have been awarded a Victoria Cross for their valour in the face of the enemy. In fact, the first two VCs awarded to Australians were awarded to Tasmanians. My own electorate of Lyons, a vast agricultural seat, is home to a number of Victoria Cross recipients, notably John Bisdee, Walter Brown, Lewis McGee, Harry Murray, James Newland and Percy Statton. Many of the small communities in my electorate remember with sadness and pride the departure of so many sons and the fact some never returned.

I've visited the Woodsdale Museum in the Midlands. Housed in an old schoolhouse built in 1884, the museum, founded by a group of enthusiastic history buffs and run entirely by volunteers, has been transformed through state, local and federal government grants, and it features heavily the region's contribution to the Australian war effort. Collected over time, the volunteers now have portraits of almost all the men and women who left this very small community to go to war. There are halls throughout my electorate with similar memorabilia.

Brighton has a long history as a military town. Troops destined for the Boer War and World War I trained in paddocks near the Jordan River, and a permanent camp site was built in October 1939 to train enlisted men. Sadly, the Brighton army barracks no longer exists, having been burnt down. Those who went to fight in later wars, particularly the Korean and Vietnam wars, also used this site for training. Although the camp burned down, the site's gates still stand, and a sculpture by local sculptor, Folko Kooper, has been erected just outside them in remembrance of the young men who marched through the gates as they headed overseas.

Recently, I had the opportunity to support an application under the Stronger Communities Program for funding a statue in Magra, a small town just outside New Norfolk. This was for two local brothers, the Harris boys, who gave their lives in World War I and who now, proudly, have statues remembering their service looking over the local CWA hall carved out of cypress pines that were dying.

But, for a nation that shows such deserved pride in our military history and the contributions of so many men and women, we have failed utterly to look after those who make it home. This bill sets to redress that failure, and I hope it's enough. But, if it's not enough, we must stand ready to do more and without delay. My office has been working with Brett, a veteran who's applied for invalidity benefits due to diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder. During his service, Brett, a highly specialised soldier, who received high commendations and who lived for his service, regularly jumped from planes. His last jump caused an injury, leaving him unfit for operational duties.

Debate interrupted.

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