Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on behalf of all of the locals in my electorate of Dunkley who have taken the time to email me to ask me to support a royal commission into veteran suicide deaths. I am proud to say to all of you and to all the other veterans in my electorate and across Australia who haven't been able to contact me: I am standing here to support that royal commission. I also am speaking today to recognise the Frankston RSL; the Seaford RSL; the Vietnam Veterans Association, particularly Cheryl, who is so tireless in all of her work; the Frankston Naval Memorial Club in Langwarrin; the Young Veterans who work in my electorate; and all of their members, and everyone who has served and is serving our country, and to say thank you.

It's been a while now that Australian veterans and their family members have been calling for a royal commission, and those calls have got increasingly louder. We need a royal commission into veterans' suicide because this is a real issue, and one that we can't allow to continue. It should have bipartisan support. It's not a political exercise. It's not only about the people that take their lives; it affects the lives their families, their friends, their children and their communities. The latest data shows us that the veterans death toll by suicide since 2001—and I understand it's a conservative figure—is 10 times greater than our losses in Afghanistan. That's not something that we as a society should accept.

It is clear from the conversations that I have had with veterans who live across my electorate of Dunkley that there is system-wide institutional failure and there are real concerns with some of the ways in which the Department of Veterans' Affairs—not the people who work there but the department, the system, as a whole—is operating. So it is time, and many would say high time, that we have a royal commission, which we need to determine why the interventions that have been in place over the years aren't working, and where we can go. Not everyone supports a royal commission. Not everyone who is a veteran supports a royal commission. But, certainly, in my community I have had many people lobby me to ask for a royal commission.

One of the things that a royal commission, through public hearings, can provide—which a standing commissioner can't provide—is closure for some people, and healing and restorative justice. We know from the royal commissions we've had in this country into institutional sexual abuse, mental health, aged care and disability services, which are ongoing, and we know from inquiries that we've seen around the world into social ills, that often one of the most powerful things about those inquiries is the chance for people to tell their stories and to have their stories heard. Yes, the recommendations that would come out of any royal commission are very important, and they may well include to establish a permanent commissioner. But it is just as important to make sure that people's voices are heard, their experiences are taken into account and they know that they are not forgotten or ignored.

We also know that, within our veterans community, there are a range of issues in addition to suicide, but they are often interrelated with that ultimate, terrible and irreversible act. We know that there are issues for many veterans with accessing affordable housing and with homelessness. We know that there is an issue with veterans accessing mental health services before they get to the stage of no return. We know that many people who have served and then come home find it very difficult to re-engage in the community, and they suffer in unemployment and from a sense of isolation. We know that, for the widows and widowers, and children and families of those who have lost their lives while serving, there is ongoing grief, there are often ongoing financial issues, and there are often, again, feelings of isolation. That's where the RSLs, the Young Veterans, the navy clubs and the Vietnam Veterans' Associations are so important—to provide that sense of community. So I am supporting a royal commission because it will be the opportunity to look into all of those issues as well. From my perspective, that's important, because we know they are related to suicide.

I want to finish by saying to the people who have served our country and the people who are serving our country: be assured that I and my colleagues will continue to stand up for you and listen when you ask us to act.

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