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

It's a great privilege to rise to honour the memory of Ben Humphreys, the former member for Griffith and a man whose integrity this House has recalled since his passing last month. In recent weeks, we have heard touching bipartisan tributes to Ben's character. Ben's successor in the seat of Griffith, Kevin Rudd, released a statement in which he expressed gratitude for his mentor's support. Kevin wrote that without Ben he would never have become the 26th Prime Minister of Australia. Kevin praised him as a kind, gentle and good man, and said:

There was a decency and authenticity to Benny that was rare in political life.

I personally didn't know Ben, but it's clear that many of us, on both sides of the aisle, recognise in him something of the greater sense of purpose and love of country that inspired many of us to come to this place, whatever our values, to try to make our country even better. I'd like to focus my remarks today on the substance of Ben's work.

A native son of Queensland, Ben was close to the Northern Territory. While travelling across rural Queensland and the Northern Territory in his role as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Northern Australia, Ben earned the moniker of Bushman's Friend. Ben's most long-lasting achievements were in his role as Minister for Veterans' Affairs—his first portfolio in the Bob Hawke government. Ben was far ahead of his time in terms of understanding the role of Australian soldiers on the western front in the First World War. In 1992 he unveiled a 2.3-metre bronze statue of an Australian soldier by a Melbourne sculptor, which was shipped to Bullecourt in France to be displayed at the Australian memorial there. As minister, he also organised a return to the western front commemorative mission of World War I veterans to France. Ben was also responsible for implementing the Labor policy of carving out a separate Department of Veterans' Affairs, which endures to this day.

Ben lived and breathed veterans' issues. He was a son of a World War I veteran who was totally incapacitated after being run over by a horse-drawn cannon. Ben had himself been conscripted into the Navy for national service in 1953, which he welcomed as a chance to serve his country. When Ben started out as a mechanic in Brisbane he was helped out by World War II veterans, including a former POW—prisoner of war—captured by the Japanese Army and one who had served in Bougainville. His father-in-law, who had served in the RAAF, had a 100 per cent disability pension. These experiences shaped Ben's understanding of veterans' issues and the importance of adequate and ongoing government support.

In one of his important reforms in 1990 Ben axed a controversial lifestyle report, which older veterans would remember. This was basically a complicated questionnaire which screened veterans from accessing government support services. When he announced that Labor would axe this unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle, the Queensland RSL conference erupted into rapturous applause. Those were the days! That same year Ben oversaw another reform which saw all hospitalised veterans gain the status of private patients, giving them access to a greater number of hospitals, greater choice of doctors and specialists, and access to more services, without prior DVA approval.

In 1991 Benny delivered on Labor's election promise to enhance the entitlements of veterans, dependants and members of the ADF. In another landmark reform, in 1992 Ben introduced legislative amendments which empowered veterans to choose how they wanted to be assessed for veterans purposes. This dismantled a notoriously inflexible and intrusive system, which subjected veterans to a patronising, top-down approach that took away the agency of some of the most heroic Australians, who endured terrible suffering so that we might walk free in this land.

One of Benny's proudest achievements was to get legislation through that allowed veterans who were totally or permanently incapacitated, like his father, to receive payments for life. This victory vindicated his faith in our parliamentary democracy. Benny said:

We live in the best country in the world and for that we owe much to the veteran[s] who fought to give us peace and a true democracy.

Ben was immensely proud of the veterans system he oversaw, which he also saw as one of the most progressive in the world. Ben had this to say about his Labor government's veterans policy:

I am not saying that we can't improve. And while we might not please everyone, we endeavour to do our best to provide the fairest and most equitable care programs for a very deserving group of citizens.

In one press release, Ben asked a wonderfully important and enduring question about emergency personnel responding to Queensland floods, which also revealed his attitude to veterans:

Who's helping the helpers while the helpers help us?

Ben is not only notable for how closely connected he was to the veterans community and for how much he earned the admiration of the diggers with whom he interacted closely for many years, both in his local RSL sub-branch and as Minister for Veterans' Affairs; he's also a significant political figure for just how much he achieved. In my own electorate of Solomon, the North Darwin RSL club benefited on his watch from a DVA grant of $7,640 to provide it with new kitchen facilities for meal service. This helped entice older members of our Top End community back into the community and the clubhouse, to socialise and to exercise a couple of times a week.

Under this same joint venture scheme begun in 1985, more than $2.7 million was allocated to ESOs to set up 389 programs in Australia. He also oversaw the establishment of multiple new facilities for Vietnam and other veterans and their families in Darwin, including in Casuarina, where my office is today. This was part of the Labor government's plan of having shopfront counselling centres for veterans around the country. The Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service provided a relaxed, informal setting in which veterans and their families could talk about their problems, socialise, support one another and access a medical officer, a psychologist, training workshops and other activities.

As Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Ben Humphreys did enormous amounts of important and often behind-the-scenes work for veterans. In this, and in his Northern Australia portfolio, Ben did a lot for Darwin and for the Northern Territory. Today at a time of focused public discussion on how to provide the best and fairest social support and services to our veterans, we can do worse than look to Ben Humphreys for inspiring leadership. The then Labor government's concept of veterans hubs spotted around the country in areas of greatest need—as in Darwin, where Ben launched its centre—remains topical almost 20 years on. In Ben's understanding of and love for veterans and their families, we are reminded of the great heights of Australian statesmanship. I acknowledge and thank the government for their bipartisan tributes to Ben last month in recognition of this shared tradition. We can have no better model than Ben as we do our best to seek the fairest deal for veterans and their physical and mental health as well as for their families. Vale the Hon. Benjamin Charles Humphreys.

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