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

I want to send a message to the Prime Minister from Russ Swan, a Vietnam veteran in Darwin, in my electorate. Russ, in part, says: 'Consider this: you sign up to serve your country and, as a result, afterwards you are so disillusioned that you'd rather die than live and enjoy being a grandfather or a grandmother. I hope my faith is restored, and nothing less than a royal commission will get to the truth behind why veterans continue to opt out of life.' I wanted to pass that on from Russ because in a very short time the Prime Minister is going to walk into this chamber. Some have already spoken on this issue of the royal commission, and I want to acknowledge those that have already spoken and that will speak after question time. What I want is the Prime Minister to listen. That's the most important thing. I want him to come in here and show leadership and say clearly that there will be a royal commission into veteran and defence personnel suicide. As another veteran of the Vietnam War said to me recently, a royal commission will be too late for many, but it will be a life saver for others. To all those World War II veterans, Vietnam veterans and veterans of every conflict since, the job is on. Let's get it done.

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