Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Veteran suicide remains front and centre for far too many Australian families. Around 600 veterans have died at their own hand over the last two decades—600! And there has been an epidemic of at least 18 defence and veteran suicides over the last three months, nearly twice the figure of the previous three months. Two ex-service personnel took their own lives over three days in the first week of this month.

This is a national calamity. Australian men and women who wear our uniform in our name deserve our respect and our support. This deserves the closest attention of the government. I think the minister is a good man who genuinely cares about veterans, as does the shadow minister. On this, though, I have sat down with veterans, including people like Heston Russell and Julie-Ann Finney, who I was with again today—Julie-Ann, of course, lost her son. They convinced me that a royal commission was the right thing to do. It was the first royal commission that I called for as the leader of the Labor Party, and I did not do so lightly. I sought, and will continue to seek, support from across this parliament for our position.

I'll say, with respect to the minister, that he needs to do a bit better than just say he will carefully consider the views that are about to be passed unanimously by the Senate and the House of Representatives. What our veterans—every one of them—have fought for is our democracy and our way of life. This isn't a committee passing a motion, this is our national parliament. The Senate did it last week and the House of Representatives is going to do it today, the government has indicated. If that's not binding on the government then I don't know what is; I don't know why we're here, frankly—all 225, or thereabouts, members and senators. It's not a talkfest. We make decisions to reflect national opinion—and national opinion says that we need a royal commission. That is what the families are saying. That's what veterans are saying. We have had so many reviews, so many inquiries, but the situation has not got better.

It is more than a year since the Prime Minister responded to our call for a royal commission by announcing a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention, claiming at the time that it would be better than a royal commission. The Prime Minister said on the Today show on 5 February last year: 'I spoke to Julianne Finney last night, who's been an advocate with this for many times, and she couldn't be more pleased that we're taking this step. It's bigger and better than a royal commission, beyond what she had hoped for. We can't just look back. We've got to look forward. I think we've come up with a better way that brings everybody together.'

Labor, at the time, indicated that we were prepared to examine this proposal, which we weren't consulted on beforehand it must be said, and whether indeed it would have the powers of a royal commission and be appropriately structured and staffed to deliver the kind of results which I think we all would hope for. Everyone wants to see this scourge end. We can all accept that; this isn't a partisan issue. But the more we looked at it the more we agreed with people like Julianne Finney that this simply wasn't enough, that this was a watered down version of a royal commission which would do little more than the work of a coroner—as important as that is—that it wouldn't have the potential with the resources you'd normally see allocated to a royal commission, that it wouldn't have the independence, wide scope or terms of reference of a royal commission, that it wouldn't deliver a final list of recommendations that pressure is then placed on the government to implement. It is a completely untested model, which is why we need a royal commission first. And then perhaps this sort of model, as a long-term standing organisation, may well advance the cause which we all hope it would.

But that doesn't mitigate the need for a royal commission; and that's why so many veterans and their families have actually said that, faced with the government's proposal or nothing at all, they would prefer nothing. That's been the response in the inquiry that was established in the Senate. And people across the chamber who take these issues seriously, including the former veterans who grace us with their presence here in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, need to be listened to as well. I would have disagreements with Jacqui Lambie on some issues, but on standing up for veterans she is just so fair dinkum and so passionate. She deserves credit for continuing to advocate so unequivocally for a royal commission.

And that's why the national commissioner legislation was defeated in the Senate last year. It's a big call to vote against that; it's a call that we didn't make easily. Well, the government withdrew it because it didn't have support. But that's just a political manoeuvre, which is typical of this government, frankly—a political response to something that was an issue of substance. The fact is that the interim commissioner, also a friend of the current defence minister, is investigating the defence minister's own department. That doesn't give any faith to those who want to see real change. The interim commissioner actually invited veterans and families to a meeting in March and asked them to pay $100 for the privilege—just extraordinary! So having delayed and ducked and weaved, it then launched its own preferred scheme in the face of the legitimate concerns that were put forward. Of course, the Daily Telegraph announced on its front page that it was a royal commission on the day of the Prime Minister's announcement. When we examined it, it simply wasn't there.

The government is agreeing to this motion today. But you can't agree to a motion and say you oppose a royal commission; it's weasel words. The time for politics is over. The House of Representatives will speak, as the Senate has spoken. It can't be resisted anymore. The government should be calling a royal commission today given they have known that this has been coming for a long period of time. You can't have the defence minister's friend investigating the minister's own department. We know that a similar thing happened with regard to 'Teddy' Sheean and the VC. This is a tired eight-year-old government with an ear of tin sometimes and a heart of stone at others. It needs to actually listen and act. If it does that, it will be welcomed by us on this side of the chamber, by crossbenches, by those people like Julie-Ann Finney and others, who fought so hard for this royal commission.

I also pay tribute to Shayne Neumann, our shadow minister, and others who helped to make this call and campaigned so strongly for it. This should be a moment of unity for the parliament but it has to be one that does not oppose the motion; it has to support the motion. That's an important distinction and one the government should acknowledge and should commit to here today.

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