Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud and honoured to speak in favour of this motion this morning. I do so not only as the member for Braddon but as an ex-serviceman. I'd also like to welcome the families and the ex-servicemen and women that we have in the gallery today. You are very welcome here. I was just a young kid, 18 years old, true of eye and straight of limb—as they say—when I joined the Australian Army. I was a very different person 20 years later as a 38-year-old, somewhat worse for wear. But along the way, I had an incredible journey, an incredible life. I had a life that was filled with purpose, with teamwork, with mateship. Anyone who's ever served with know the military is a big family and we stick together more than most.

However, the rigors of that service life have an effect. It's had an effect on me, not only physically but mentally. I said before in this place that I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and I'm treated daily for that. I said when I mention it in this place that I don't mention it for pity. I mention it to let all veterans know that, yes, you may suffer the same thing that I suffer but there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and you can get help. Help is there today, tomorrow and it'll always be there. We need to make sure as a collective that that help is always there and it's always strong.

The royal commission is going to be tough. It is going to have a very critical tough look at a very tough subject. It's going to be tough on the families. It's going to be tough on the mates of those involved. It's going to be tough on units, on the chain of command and on families. I think during this process everyone involved is going to require support at the highest level. They're going to require that support on the ground as this royal commission is going on.

When I was a digger, I used to pride myself on the fact that I was a soldier's soldier. I always stuck up for my diggers. I never left one behind. I maintain that today. As this royal commission goes about its very critical job that it has to do, I want to make sure that those diggers out there, those veterans out there, and those families that I talked about earlier are protected not just today, tomorrow, next year or at the completion of the royal commission. I want to make sure that there is help there every day for them. I think it behoves us all to ensure in a bipartisan way that that help is provided. I echo the words of the minister and his focus on that support.

I also want it very clear to everybody involved how much emphasis I place on families. Families play an important part in the important transition process between defence and civilian life. Often—and I know this in my own case—if you suffer from one thing or another along the way from the rigours of service life you'll strike out at the ones closest to you, your family. I see heads nodding. I've seen this along my journey as well. People can take it out on their families. What invariably happens is the spouse packs up the children and leaves. Then there's another issue. Then the bills for the child support come. Then there's another financial issue. Then there's an alcohol issue or a drug issue. We start putting on weight and injuries that we picked up along the way in our service life get worse and are exacerbated by that. Depression sets in. No-one's there. The big family that we had as part of the military isn't there any longer. Why is it worth it? As far as I'm concerned, that answers a lot of questions as to why we go through this. I know because I've been through this. I want families protected in this. I want those kids to know exactly why mum or dad is feeling the pain that they're feeling and maybe why they act the way that they do. I think families are important, and I want families looked at and supported throughout this entire process. I mean that so sincerely.

Our ESOs, ex-service organisations, play a critical role not only in the transition process between defence and civilian life but also in encouraging people to take up a new regime. Our diggers, at 7.20 every morning, get up and do PT. At 10 o'clock they have morno. On Thursday afternoon, they have sport. They get used to that routine. They're fit and young. They've got their mates around them. When they leave, there are no mates, no PT, no routine, no structure and no support, apart from the supports that we as a government put in. They're incredibly important. It's important that not only that veteran is looked at but that veteran's family unit is looked after. I want to see that happen from the get-go.

Private enterprises and businesses play an important part as well. I think over the years what has evolved in the veteran community is a broken digger mentality, whereby, irrespective of whether there is any truth in it or not, some employers think that if they employ an ex-defence person then that person will come with baggage. But I'm here to tell the story that employing a veteran is good for your business. Employing a veteran gives them a new purpose in life. We reconnect them with the purpose that they had. Their ultimate purpose in life was to defend their country and look after their mates. The sooner we can connect them to a new job, family and profession the better. A purpose is absolutely paramount and fundamental when it comes to reconnecting our veterans to their futures. If we don't connect them to a purpose, then we've failed them. To businesses out there: do the right thing and employ a veteran, because it'll add to your bottom line—they'll do your business the world of good. They come with a set of skills that is unmatched: they're confident, they have a mission focus, they can identify problems, they work well in big teams and small teams, and they won't stop until they get the job done. If an obstacle is put in front of a veteran, they'll look for a way around it. They'll identify the problem, identify the route, move around it and continue on their mission, and that's what all businesses need. Businesses out there need to play a part in that transition process also.

We sometimes do not have too much to do with our friends in the military, from time to time. We're not regular in our friendship groups. But when you meet one of your mates who you knew 20 or 30 years ago who you served with, it's like you haven't been away. It's like you saw them yesterday. We need to work on a network by which we can reconnect our friends that we served with. I want them to also make new friends, because we need to take those veterans, their families and their friends on that journey. As far as I'm concerned, this transition is absolutely paramount.

Whilst I support the royal commission, the only reservation I have—and I've alluded to it during my words this morning—is that I want something for our veterans tomorrow. With a royal commission, it's going to take 18 months before we start to see any action. What happens to the digger that's contemplating that tomorrow, on the weekend or next month? All I say, in closing, is that, as well as this royal commission, I want something to protect our veterans and their families now.

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