Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023. I do so noting that this bill is uncontroversial, but I never miss an opportunity to jump up when I can and speak about veterans and veterans' welfare.

The Sunshine Coast, which I am one of the proud federal members for, has one of the largest veteran populations in the country. Why wouldn't you retire to the Sunshine Coast? Why wouldn't you want to start a new life, after your discharge from the military, on the Sunshine Coast? Who could blame them for that?

I want to send a huge shout-out to the various ex-service organisations that do such fantastic work in my electorate in particular. We've got the Caloundra RSL sub-branch, the Kawana Waters RSL sub-branch, the Maleny RSL sub-branch and the Glasshouse RSL sub-branch. We have great organisations like SMEAC, who I've had quite a bit to do with recently. SMEAC are trying to develop a veterans' wellbeing centre on the Sunshine Coast. If I get a chance I'll come back and talk a little bit about the veterans' wellbeing centres—now that the minister has just walked into the room! We have organisations like Wandering Warriors, Soldier On and Young Veterans—and many more, no doubt. Diggers Rest is another example.

When you join the military, you join because you want to serve your country and your fellow Australians. And that life of service doesn't stop when you eventually pull off that uniform and don't put it back on again. That sense of pride and of service to your country follows on, and that's very clear from the explosion, if I can use that term, of ESOs that we have in this country. I congratulate all the many men and women who are involved in the ESOs, but I know—and I'm keen to hear what the Minister for Veterans' Affairs says about this—that it makes it very difficult for governments of either persuasion when they are dealing with so many different ESOs. So, if you're sitting at home right now and thinking, 'I've got a really good idea: I want to work with or provide a service to a particular cohort of veterans,' my plea to you is, rather than start a new charity or a new foundation, to try and find one that already exists, because there is only so much money, at the end of the day, that governments are able to provide, albeit very, very significant sums of money. When the coalition were last in government, we spent $11½ billion a year on our veterans through the Department of Veterans' Affairs. It is a lot of money, and it becomes very, very difficult for governments of the day to provide those sorts of services when they are dealing with so many different ex-service organisations. I want to give a big shout-out to all of the executive holders on all the various organisations that serve veterans on the Sunshine Coast. Thank you for your continued service to your friends and comrades.

There are a couple of other things I want to take this opportunity to raise, particularly whilst the minister is here. I want to talk about the GI bill. This is something that I've been fighting for since I came into this place. Admittedly, I have been unsuccessful to date, but that doesn't mean that I will sit down. I think that we have an obligation in this place to further our veterans' education whilst they are still in the services and afterwards. Clearly, we wouldn't call it the GI bill because 'GI' is an American term. If the minister's interested, I have some suggestions, like the 'digger bill' or something like that. But the GI bill emanates from the United States post-World War II, where servicemen—because that's what they were in World War II: servicemen—were provided the opportunity to undertake tertiary education on Uncle Sam's tick once they had been deployed on active duty and served in World War II.

This is a policy which I think we should pick up in this place. We know that many veterans, when they are actually serving, are flying, sailing and driving multimillion dollar, sometimes multibillion dollar, equipment. They are someone. They have purpose. They have a sense of mission. They belong to a tribe. And, when they discharge, many of them struggle with the loss of all of those things. Whilst the ADF has made some inroads, through being a registered training organisation, into recognition of prior learning of what personnel learn whilst they're in the services, many of them struggle to have those qualifications recognised in the civilian world. It is so important for men and women, no matter whether they're in the services or not, to feel like they are contributing to their society. But, particularly for men and women who have served, who have contributed to their nation, when they lose that sense of purpose afterwards, we have an obligation as governments to ensure that we equip them in the best way that we can—retrain them, reskill them, remissionise them, retribalise them—to help them reintegrate into civilian life. It's very different, I accept, but my life has some analogies, in that I was able to retrain and retribalise when I left the construction sector, as a carpenter and joiner, and became a lawyer. I had to study for four years, as a mature age student, with three kids running around the place, but I was fortunate that I was in a position to be able to do that. Many of our veterans aren't.

Minister, I think we really need to have a close look at a digger bill. Yes, it will cost a lot of money, but this is an opportunity for us. We know that the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is undertaking its work as we speak. One suicide is too many. I think of the many veterans and families that I've dealt with. I was very worried about a particular constituent of mine. He was getting the run-around from DVA. I rang the minister and, to his credit, the issue was resolved inside of 24 hours. I thank him for his willingness to take that call. I have had similar experiences with previous veterans' affairs ministers when I have picked up the phone and said: 'We have got a problem here, and, if we don't fix it, I'll be very concerned about this person's welfare.' It's not a partisan thing. The people who sit in your seat, Minister, in your particular role, are required to be a particular type of individual. If I may be so bold, I think the veterans are being short-changed by you not being in cabinet. I think you should be in cabinet. The role is so important that you need to be sitting around the cabinet table, where the decisions are made. Eleven and a half billion dollars is a lot of coin to be handing out, and those decisions need to be made at the cabinet table. I think you should be there.

I want to send a big shout-out to the Thompson Institute, an organisation that is attached to the University of the Sunshine Coast, or UniSC, as it's now called. When we were in government, we provided $8 million for the building of Australia's first PTSD centre, at the Thompson Institute on the Sunshine Coast—and the first residential eating disorder facility was also established on the Sunshine Coast. This institute is a brain and mind research centre which will be looking at and researching into PTSD for veterans and emergency service workers. This is a tremendous opportunity for the Sunshine Coast to be able to provide services to veterans and first responders—and veteran first responders—who struggle with life as a result of what they have dealt with in their careers. We as civilians will never know or really comprehend the sort of carnage that veterans will have experienced in conflict and the sort of carnage that our emergency service workers see on a daily basis.

Just last night I was speaking with Helen Bartlett, Vice-Chancellor of UniSC, about the Thompson Institute and its future. I was very pleased to hear that its future is bright. I thank Professor Jim Lagopoulos for his service as the director of Thompson Institute since it started. Jim has recently departed from the TI. Jim, thank you for your leadership, for your service and for what you did and are continuing to do for veterans and for people who are struggling from poor mental health.

Today we recognise—and we previously held a service at Parliament House—50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. As many of us would know, how we treated our veterans from the Vietnam War is not our crowning glory. When our veterans returned from Vietnam, many of them were exposed to despicable and disgraceful conduct by people. They were spat on and called baby killers. The men and women who served this country with distinction deserve our respect. Many of them went under nasho, under national service. They didn't choose to go. They were required to go. It's very difficult for these men and women who have served in conflict. Most civilians would have absolutely no comprehension of the experiences they endured.

I also want to give a bit of a shout-out to the men from Rifle Company Butterworth. It's good for the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to be here for this discussion. I've been working closely with Graeme Mickelberg, who is a retired colonel of the Australian Army and a Rifle Company Butterworth veteran. These men are not looking for anything other than recognition for their warlike service. These men went to Malaysia under difficult conditions. I know it's an issue that is being currently investigated by an inquiry, thanks to Andrew Gee, the previous minister. Minister, I encourage you to look closely at that report when it's handed down and to give it your full consideration.

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