Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak in favour of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, but I don't want to politicise the issues at hand. I think this is far too serious an issue for any political gain or political snipe. However, I want to give people a better understanding of the implications and the background—the underlying issues for many of the paradigms talked about within the legislation. This legislation talks about our MRCA, our Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, and our DRCA, our defence related claims act. The technical parameters of the bill were detailed by previous speakers. It allows our defence veterans to be paid their full compensation whilst still studying.

As a former military instructor I took young kids off the bus and turned them into soldiers. It's from that perspective that I speak today. These aren't just any kids. These are our best. They are chosen through recruiting and tested. These are the top two per cent of Australia's youth. They're motivated, because they put their hand up of their own volition and took themselves into a defence recruiting office where they raised their hand and swore an oath to our country, its Queen and its people.

They then go to their recruit training establishment. I speak of Kapooka, the 1st Recruit Training Battalion. Once they come to us we take them from that civilian way of life to a very different way of life. It's a way of life that is unique. It's very difficult for those who haven't served to understand and contemplate the changes that go on within a young person's mind and heart to change them from a civilian to a soldier. We must remember at all times that our role in the military is to keep Australia safe using lethal force, to seek out and close with our enemy, to kill or capture him. These are the lessons we teach our young people, and they're very difficult lessons to get across.

We also teach our young people that the person on their right and the person on their left are the most important and that the value of the team is far greater than the value of the individual. Again, this is a very difficult concept to get across to average Joe Blow on the street. But, once that transition is made and that trust is placed in that person on their right and their left, that's a very valuable bond, and that young person's life changes forever. Many people ask why. Why would you trust that person so much? Why would you give your life for that person on your right or your left? The answer is very simple: it's because that person on your right or your left would give their life for you.

I can't help but think of when the member for Herbert talked about the tribe. He used the word 'tribe' to describe what we have as an organisation—that trust and that bond, those changes that I talked about earlier, that we have in our military, right across the entire ADF. But, once those bonds are made, when someone leaves Defence, then they have to leave that tribe. In the member for Herbert's case, he had no choice. In my case, I was medically discharged after 20 years service. Once you have to leave due to a medical issue—to leave the big tribe that you've grown so accustomed to and that you think so much of—that's a very different transformation. That's the transformation that this bill plays a very important part in.

I mentioned before that knowledge is power. Knowledge is key. Knowledge builds confidence. I talked briefly about the change in those young individuals that we get off the bus at Kapooka. You can see them after their recruit training course. They're a different person. They stick their chest out; they pull their shoulders back; they're confident. They're confident in their team and their mates. They're proud of being in the Army. They're proud of serving the country. They're proud to protect that person on their right or their left. You can see it in their eyes, and you can feel it when you walk into a training area and you've got young recruits. After a while, you can feel that culture, and it's very strong. But once that tribe is broken and that individual leaves the tribe, then they feel as if they're an outcast in life, and that's where the problems start. Bills like this help give that confidence, through training, through rehabilitation and through taking that purpose and changing and shaping that purpose into a different purpose. That's where we can unlock the future of that young person's success.

There are a number of other elements, I think, that come into play when we talk about transitioning. I talked briefly about the importance that that training and knowledge brings—training like what we're talking about within the confines of the bill—but I also want to make the very succinct point that families play an important part in this. A veteran's family is going to be the mechanism, the conduit, by which that veteran makes that transformation. As a government and as a nation, I think we need to embrace the entire family unit. I think that that soldier, sailor or aviator's spouse, their child or their children, and their family are going to be their future. When we start talking about transition and rehabilitation and training, I think we should involve the entire family unit. At the end of the day, that family unit is going to be the new tribe. It's going to be the connecter between their military service and their new service, which, of course, will be meaningful employment.

We often hear—and I've heard them here today—anecdotal stories about veterans who do it tough, and sadly many do. But, as has been proven time and time again, the vast majority of our defence personnel transition very seamlessly. They transition very smoothly. In fact, when they enter their new world—their new role, their new job, their civilian employment—they transition so well that they excel. They have a skill set that is second to none. They have, over the duration of their service, built up things like teamwork, leadership skills and communication skills. They understand what integrity really means. They understand what it's like to work in big teams and small teams. They understand their commander's intent and the importance of understanding what your boss wants from you. They are very proud people; they take pride in what they do. They like to see a good job done, a proper job done, a professional job done. So my point is: to all prospective employers out there right across the nation, employing a veteran is good for your business. It really is. If we can better translate the skills, knowledge and attitudes that they learnt in the big tribe of the military into the industry-centric language that most bosses would understand, then they'd have a veteran in a heartbeat.

In the state of Tasmania, where I'm from, I'm pleased to say that we've delivered $7½ million for veterans' wellness centres, with $2½ million of that money spent on the North West veterans' hub. We talk about success stories and making a transition—well, the guy that runs this particular veterans' hub is a guy that I served with. He was an ammunition technician, a major in the Army, an officer. For retraining, for resettlement, he decided that he would stick his hand up and become a general practitioner. He wanted to be a GP; he wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to help people. So he did. And now he's one of the finest GPs that we've got in the great state of Tassie, and he's helping us out with this North West veterans' clinic.

He's teamed up with other great organisations, like Open Arms, like Soldier On, like Mates4Mates and many others. What that clinic does is provide a way of life and a mechanism by which veterans can pre-empt the rigours of that change. They arm them with the skills, knowledge and attitude that they need for their new mission, for their new role. They give them purpose again, and, in doing so, they encourage that confidence. And the results speak for themselves! The incredible amount of positive feedback that we get from that organisation really makes us proud—proud that we can provide that support. And it's given by, as I said, veterans. Veterans are helping veterans, and you'll never find a better scenario.

I want to refer also to another organisation which works with the North West veterans' hub, and that is Disaster Relief Australia. It's run by a young bloke called Geoff Evans, and he's an ex-military engineer. He's got a volunteer organisation which helps out in many areas during floods, fires and other disasters. In fact, we had a terrible storm in Tassie some months ago, and 60 of these volunteers were down there helping people in communities, cutting trees off houses and helping people who couldn't ordinarily help themselves. The teamwork and camaraderie and esprit de corps that existed in their group took me back to my Army days. By doing that, the mentorship and the peer support that existed was therapy in itself, and the end result was that the community was proud of the help that they'd received from Disaster Relief Australia. I can't speak highly enough of them. But it also put pride on the faces of those ex-Defence personnel, those veterans, who did the work, and that's what it's all about.

I guess the main point that I want to get across today is that family is going to unlock the future for our veterans, and everybody needs a family. I think that knowledge is key, and I think that knowledge is empowering. I think that the more training and the more knowledge we can give our veterans, then the better their chance of success will be.

Finally, as a nation, I want to reiterate exactly what the member for Herbert said, and that is: the time for feeling sorry for veterans is over. We should not pity our veterans. We should be proud of them. There are veterans who, yes, will tug at our heartstrings, with the extreme nature of some injuries that still exist. But, for the most part, our veterans transition very well. They're an asset, so give them a go. If a veteran comes knocking on your door, at least give them a go because they come highly recommended and with a set of skills that are second to none.

Finally, I want to say that the royal commission has been difficult. I want to thank every single last witness who has given evidence to that royal commission. I want to recognise the hardships they would have had to endure and the gumption they would have had to build up before they went and gave that evidence. To relive that trauma would have been unbelievably difficult. I want to recognise that formally. I want to recognise that from my own perspective and from the parliament's perspective. I want to thank you for that. I want you to recognise that the work that you've done in doing so will save lives. I can't thank you enough for that.

This is a great bill. It comes at the end of a long road, and I'm pleased to see it's finally coming to fruition. We can't fix veterans' issues overnight; I think the royal commission will identify that. But we're moving in the right direction. I want to look across the chamber today at the minister and I want him to be reassured that, if there is anything veterans from this side can do, he has our support. At the end of the day, our aim is to look after our fine community of veterans.

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