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

I recognise and appreciate the comments made by the previous speaker, the member for Spence. The list of names that he read, which represents the respective electorates, their respective states and the veteran community, is, I think, an impressive list. I think that each and every one of those people on that list that you read, Member for Spence, takes it upon their shoulders to do the right thing, and they genuinely believe, across all sides of the parliament, in their cause and in the betterment of the outcomes for our veteran community, so I thank you.

In relation to the interim findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, I reflect on not only the contents but also the recommendations. I reflect on a number of things as I go through that document. First, I reflect on the findings and the outcomes—the tangible things that are put in front of government that they can implement in order to rectify the issues highlighted by the royal commission. But in doing so I also reflect on the lived experience and the re-lived trauma of each and every person who gave evidence to that royal commission, including during the royal commission itself. It would have taken them to hell and back. I want to formally acknowledge that in this place and extend the support measures that are so absolutely necessary in these times of such reflection. I want to encourage those who have had to re-live those experiences, or if they know of anyone who has been involved in such evidence and is having difficulty, to reach out to the respective contact numbers that have been provided by the royal commission.

As well as reflecting on the royal commission, I reflect on my service. My service went over two decades, 20 years. The member for Riverina spoke about Wagga Wagga as our recruit training establishment. I spent 8½ years of my life there as a corporal, as a sergeant and as a warrant officer. It was there that I took those young men and women off the bus. Those young men and women had worked up the moral courage and agonised for hours in their own time to finally put their hand up, to go into a recruiting office and to offer to give their life in the service of their country. That, in some cases, was a naive obligation. They didn't know what they didn't know, but I reminded them of that as soon they got to the first Army recruit training centre, and it was there that that transformation took place.

These are some of our best people, some of our finest Australians, some of our most dedicated and service-driven young people. All they want to do is the right thing for their country. Me as an instructor, I had to turn that raw service into a capability, a capability that will seek out and close with an enemy in a foreign country or on Australian soil, that will kill or capture an enemy and then live with that, or put their life in another man's hand and expect him to do the same for them. The question often is posed: Why do soldiers do that? The answer is simple; it is because the person on your left or right would give their life for you. That bond, that transformation, that change of that young person I talked about earlier, the young person who got off the bus, is an incredible change that we cannot undo.

You cannot untrain somebody. You cannot un-see the things that we see in defence. I have served on operational service and I have taken young men and women into active service. The responsibility of rank is that when you as an individual put those soldiers under your command in harm's way and they are harmed, you wear that as an individual. You wear that as a leader. This is not spoken about anywhere in this report, but I want to recognise that today and I want to recognise the fact that, for our leaders in the military, that burden of guilt never goes away. When you stand at a military funeral and you're holding a salute as they lower a casket into the hole, the look of the bearers, the look of the mates, the look of those in the unit never goes away. If I close my eyes now I can see it in my own mind's eye and that will never leave me. I obviously have learnt to live with that but it will not go away.

I don't want the average person in loungerooms across Australia today to think that this interim funding of this royal commission will fix every thing because it won't. It is a start. It puts us on a path; it recognises the fault. In the military we have a simple way of identifying faults and correcting them. We identify the fault, we identify the soldier and we correct the fault then we continue the practice of the operation. That is exactly where we need to get back to here. The point I make, what I'm trying to say, is that all the emotion, all the fluff, all the retrospectivity need to come back to the outcomes. Everything needs to be about outcome-driven exercise.

I fought in the state of Tasmania to have money put into a North West veterans hub. A bloke I served with was a bomb technician. His name's Dr Andrew Clarke. He's helped me with that. He's a general practitioner, and we've set up a wellness centre that treats many of our veterans—and I shouldn't say the word 'treat'. I felt guilty as soon as I said that word. It's not 'treat'. It's 'work with'. It's 'be there for them'. It's not 'treat'. So I take that back, and I correct that. But, in saying that, I think I'm getting the point across: the language that we use is so important. The positivity that we need is so important.

The time for pity parties has gone with this North West veterans hub. We highlight to veterans: 'You need to get off the couch, and you need to do something for yourself, and we're here to support you. We will wrap as much support around you as possible. We will not rest until your problem is fixed, and we will always be there.' And this is what they need. This is what our veteran community needs. They don't need pity. I implore people right across the country: please don't feel sorry for our veterans. You should look up to them, because they've done nothing but the right thing, and along the way they've suffered a few issues that need our support wrapped around them. That's the attitude that I want to have: a positive, progressive and outcome-driven attitude. I've said in this place before that I suffer from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm treated. I have a tablet every day for it. I don't say that for pity; I say that to let all veterans know that you can have this thing and you can seek help. Support's there. People wrap their arms around me and help me, and now I'm operating at a reasonably high level here in federal parliament, thanks very much.

But the point I'm making is that you can be whatever you want to. It doesn't preclude you from going on with a normal life. It doesn't stop you from looking after your families. That word 'family', I think, isn't said enough. I don't think we've covered that enough. As we look at the military, it is a big family. It's a tribe, and we're connected. I've talked about that. I've talked about the connection that we have to that big family. But, when you leave that family, that feeling of separation because you've lost your tribe, I think, is the start. I think that our real family unit—our spouse, our children and our wider family—is going to play an important part in the transfer of the veteran from their big military family to their new family, which is civilian life and a way forward. I don't think we concentrate on that enough, and it should be at the centre. It should underpin everything we do as far as support measures are concerned—family-centric treatment for our acutely affected veterans. I want to see a place where we can take the whole family. Those kids need to know why mum or dad feels the way that they do. Those kids are affected by that trauma, and we need to make sure that we wrap our support measures around them as well.

To rehash, I welcome the findings of the royal commission. I've always supported this. It's the only line in the sand that we can draw. But we need to remain firmly fixated on the target, and our target should be outcome driven. I want to thank everybody who's spoken today and everybody who's supported this cause, and I want to thank the brave men and women of our Defence Force and our veteran community.

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