Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Veterans' Recognition (Putting Veterans and Their Families First) Bill creates a new act which will provide a framework for government, business and the community to recognise and acknowledge the unique nature of military service and to support veterans and their families. In particular, the bill establishes an Australian Defence Veterans' Covenant, which enshrines in legislation the social contract established at the end of World War I to honour and look after our veterans. It could be said that the bill is largely symbolic, but personally I think it goes a lot further than that because it makes a very clear statement about the relationship between government and the veterans of this country and makes very clear the obligations that we have to support Defence personnel once they leave service.

This particular covenant was referred to when the minister made his third annual statement on veterans only last week. I will refer to that statement for a moment because in that statement the minister has outlined a number of veterans support programs that the government has committed to, and again I support all of those programs. Indeed, I think it's important that each year the minister makes such a statement, which sets out what is happening within the veterans community across Australia.

As the statement quite rightly points out, about 280,000 veterans and their families are currently supported by the government across the country. One of the very interesting comments to come out of that statement was that each year around 5½ thousand personnel leave our military service. What's just as interesting is that the average length of time that defence personnel remain in service is now around eight years. That is not that long, but, more importantly, what that says to me is that our defence personnel are leaving the defence services at a relatively young age, which means that they still have their whole lives ahead of them and therefore, if they have been affected by this service in some way, they will need support for a long time. It seems to me that the obligations that we have to support them perhaps will only grow over the years to come, because they are leaving at a much younger age.

Military service is indeed unique. I join with others in saying thank you to those who have served and those who continue to serve, and to their families for the disruption to and the demands on them and the sacrifices they also make. There are several veterans organisations in my region and in the electorate that I represent, the electorate of Makin, and I have frequent interactions with all of them. I see firsthand the impact of military service on personnel and on their families.

On 18 August, I attended—as I do almost every year, unless I'm here in Canberra—the annual Vietnam Veterans Day service held at Henderson Square in Montague Farm in my electorate. Some 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War. My understanding is that 528 Australian lives were lost as a result of that war, and indeed some three million people in total lost their lives as a result of that war. The keynote address on the day was delivered by His Excellency the Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le, who brought to the commemoration a very personal perspective on the war, from his war experience. He was in Vietnam at the time, as a young man, and saw firsthand the atrocities of that war, and it was indeed an eye-opener to hear his firsthand account of life throughout that period. It was after the war that he came to Australia as a boat refugee. The event was organised by the City of Salisbury and by the northern branch of the South Australian Vietnam veterans, who, again, I also have a very close relationship with and have had for many years. What was particularly wonderful to see on the day was a contingent of former South Vietnamese soldiers, who had since migrated to Australia but who had served as Australian allies in the war, and were there standing proudly in respect of the service that they had provided.

This service, like most of these services, was well attended, with the Indigenous community, schoolchildren, the wider community, other veterans groups and their families all there for the day. I think that that is important because, for most veterans—particularly the Vietnam veterans, who often feel that their service was not properly acknowledged—it is always heartening to see the community come out in large numbers to acknowledge that service. I think that that is one of the things that makes a difference to the rehabilitation of those veterans who find it difficult, after they end their military service, to re-establish themselves within the community—just to know that the community appreciates what they did. That appreciation cannot be better displayed than by people coming out to commemorative services. Whilst I'm on my feet saying that, can I say that, in recent years, I have been incredibly heartened by the number of people coming out to services—particularly on Anzac Day, where the numbers have swelled in recent years. In my own electorate, at the two major events, both at the Salisbury RSL and the Tea Tree Gully RSL, people are now coming out by the thousands to those services. It's wonderful to see not just veterans but also younger people coming out in support.

On 8 September I joined the Para District sub branch of the National Servicemen's Association in celebrating, at the Salisbury RSL club rooms, the 20th anniversary of the sub branch being established. Indeed, 20 years ago, I was there when the sub branch was established, and participated in the establishment of it. Some 290,000 Australians were called up in two intakes between 1951 and 1972. Whilst it is true that they are now generally of an older age group and are no longer in service, and that their numbers are diminishing, they should never be overlooked, nor should their service be seen in any way as lesser than that of any other person who has served this country. I particularly acknowledge the founding president of the Para District sub branch of the National Servicemen's Association, John Fisk, who I have got to know well over the years. I see John regularly. He's still an active member of the community. It was good to see him there at the lunch, along with current president Trevor Carter and state president Barry Presgrave.

In just over a week's time, on Saturday 2 November, I will also attend the Kokoda Track memorial service that is held at the Kokoda Memorial in St Agnes, also in my electorate. Each year, unless I'm here in Canberra, I attend that service. That is a very special service in that those Australians who served in New Guinea and, in particular, as part of the Kokoda Track conflict are quite often overlooked. The reality is that they too did this country very proud. Some 625 Australians died and a further 1,055 were injured in New Guinea between July 1942 and 2 November 1942. But 2 November marks the retaking of the track by Australian forces, and, because of that, it's a moment to commemorate. My understanding is that, unfortunately, there were some three times as many casualties from sickness, from being in the jungle and from the weather conditions, than there were from the conflict itself. Nevertheless, it was a major conflict. One of the wonderful things about that service is that, almost every year that I have been to it, there has been someone who has been able to give a personal account of what it was like to serve in the Kokoda Track conflict back in 1942. When you hear the stories of what it was like, you understand just how different each battle is, how different each situation is and how different the long-term impacts of that service are on the lives of those people who have had to serve.

On 11 November I will attend Remembrance Day services, as I am sure most members of this place will. That's an annual commitment that I make, as I'm sure so many other people do. I mention each of those commemorative services because, as I was saying a moment ago, each service is unique and each event is unique. Therefore, the impact on serving personnel will also be very different. I am sure it is very different for those military personnel who have served in the Middle East in recent years to what it was for those who served in Vietnam, World War II or even World War I. For that reason, the support services provided by the Department of Veterans' Affairs should take into account the uniqueness of each era and of each conflict.

Sadly, I don't think that that has been the case to date. I have often met with veterans who have personal stories and personal issues that they feel aggrieved about because of the response they receive from the Department of Veterans' Affairs when they approach the department for assistance or some other kind of support. It seems to me that there hasn't been sufficient flexibility in the department to be able to give them the support that they rightly deserve and, I believe, are entitled to, but which, because of the way the guidelines are written, they miss out on. I hope that as a result of this covenant, which I think implies a very different response from what has been provided in the past, there will be the opportunity to demonstrate that flexibility and provide that support where the situation justifies the department doing so.

There is one other matter that I want to touch on, and that is that this Sunday there will be a fundraising walk held in Adelaide for the Trojan's Trek Foundation Ltd. Trojan's Trek is a veterans support program where veterans adversely affected by their service participate in an outback track with colleagues and professional support workers. The program is held in both Queensland and South Australia. Whilst the program in Queensland is financially supported by the state government, that has not always been the case in South Australia.

Local Makin veteran Bill Bates will be participating in the fundraising walk, and I wish him well with both his walk and his fundraising. Bill is someone who has committed himself to supporting the veterans in South Australia through other activities as well, I know, because he was associated with and is a former president of the Tea Tree Gully RSL. He is absolutely committed to finding ways of supporting veterans who are finding it hard to readjust to life after their service. The Trojan's Trek is one way to be doing that, and he'll be raising some funds, and I wish him well in doing that. But I commend him for his efforts to support veterans in my state of South Australia.

I close by saying this: we acknowledge our own veterans often, and rightly so. But I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the veterans who have come to Australia from overseas, who perhaps migrated to Australia from other countries. Whilst they didn't serve our country, in the same vein, I acknowledge their service to their country and acknowledge the hardships that they also quite often go through as a result of their military service. Many of them are people who served in Europe, some from Great Britain, our allies, who have since migrated to Australia. I simply want to make the point that, in acknowledging veterans today, I acknowledge all veterans, not just those who served Australia.

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