Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I thank the member for Blair for bringing this motion to the chamber. I also take the opportunity, Mr Deputy Speaker Wilkie, to acknowledge your service and also that of the member for Solomon.

Around half a million Australians have chosen to serve our country in the armed forces, whether that be on a full-time or a part-time basis or through the reserves, and I'm incredibly proud of those people who have taken that decision to serve our country in our armed services. I was disappointed that, as the member for Braddon previously touched on in his remarks, we see the Minister for Veterans' Affairs no longer in cabinet. I think that is a great disappointment, given the level of importance and the role that our veterans play. They deserve our respect and gratitude, and that they and their families no longer have a voice at the cabinet table, I think, is an enormous disappointment.

Each and every year, some 6,000 service men and women leave the ADF and return to civilian life. Many of those have a long civilian career and opportunity ahead of them. I also acknowledge that many of those struggle with mental health issues, in particular, but also other health issues as a result of injuries or other things that have occurred during their service.

I want to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the work that a gentleman by the name of Kyle Faram, a former Army sergeant, does in my electorate, specifically based on assisting people who have exited Defence but are struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues—and, importantly, also assisting first responders in other areas, such as police, fire and ambulance. Kyle has started a group called 2530 Tours, and this came out of his experience on leaving the Defence Force as a veteran with PTSD and also other health issues and injuries. He takes groups on long kayaking tours down our major rivers. He found, from his own personal experience, that the opportunity to get away from the everyday noise of life and the opportunity to talk to others and share their common experiences was instructive and beneficial to him and those that he took on these long journeys.

I want to use this opportunity to thank Kyle and his team for the work that they're doing to help our veterans and first responders who exit the rigours and structure of the Defence Force and struggle to adjust to life outside. This is just one of many examples I know of veterans and ex-service men and women right around our country seeking to help their fellow colleagues deal with the issues they have faced.

The other company I wish to speak to, because in part this motion is about employment for veterans, is one of my local companies, Guardtech. Guardtech was founded by three former tank commanders, and, interestingly, a lot of the lessons they're applying to their tech, whether it be robotic decoys or robotic vehicles for other purposes, were learnt on the battlefields of Afghanistan. These three gentlemen started this business from scratch several years ago, and it is now growing very rapidly. Not only are they employing a variety of other ex-servicemen but, at rate they're growing, they're seeking employees from all over the place; they have the same problems that many other businesses in our communities do.

I want to say that, whilst there are still things to be dealt with, there are many good stories in our community, such as what Kyle is doing, what Guardtech is doing and what many others are doing.

See this speech in context