Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wannon for the spirit in which he gave that speech, the bipartisan nature of it was very important. And I would like to thank the member Cunningham, who has left us with a terrific speech telling us about her trip on the Kokoda Trail, likening that of course to the fact the diggers and the veterans who walked that trail would have been doing it in very different circumstances. It was a wonderful contribution from her and I would like to thank her; it was a delight to listen to. That is probably the closest I will get to the Kokoda Trail, by the way—listening to the member for Cunningham.

As it currently stands, a veteran wanting to understand their entitlements must navigate and correctly interpret the following compensation acts: The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and then, depending on when the veteran served and if it caused a specific condition, the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988. That's a mouthful. It's complicated. You pretty much need to be a military lawyer to understand it and that is not good enough for our veterans.

Our veterans and their advocates have been calling for the entitlement process to be streamlined for years, and I am pleased to be speaking in support of a bill that does just that. This bill is the Albanese Labor government delivering the most comprehensive and significant improvement to veteran entitlements in more than 20 years. The Productivity Commission recommended slimming compensation legislation to two acts rather than three. Well, we have gone one better and are simplifying it to just one. This legislation means all new claims for compensation and rehabilitation will be untangled and determined through a single act, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, MRCA, the first one I mentioned.

Under this change it will be easier than ever for veterans to understand and receive their entitlements. The bill does more than just slim down the process. It also builds on key areas as communicated to us by veterans when we reached out to consult with them. Under this bill, the MRCA gives greater benefits to veterans under a simpler package. All dependents and legal representatives of a deceased veteran can claim for the funeral costs under the MRCA irrespective of the act under which they formerly had coverage. Not only this but we have raised the cap for funeral costs by 50 per cent. The MRCA now regulates support packages, household services and attendant care, allowances for heroic recipients of the Victoria Cross, ex-gratia payments and supplements for former prisoners of war.

Finally, the Albanese Labor government will introduce a whole new payment scheme under the MRCA. The additional disablement amount, or ADA, payment builds on pensions received by veterans if they received some kind of impairment during the service. It recognises the sorts of difficulty specific to an injured veteran in their old age and provides much-needed relief. Further, any dependant of a recipient of the ADA will have automatic access to a gold card and benefits when the veteran dies. The ADA provides assurance to our veterans that their loved ones will continue to be supported after they're gone, and that's a really big consideration and a matter of security for our veterans.

It's important to note that not a single veteran is worse off under this bill. There are no losers. No-one has any benefit reduced. All changes are positive. The intentions of this bill to simplify claims and reporting are an acknowledgement of the royal commission's findings that the labyrinthine entitlement process is a significant contributor to poor mental health among veterans. It is both astonishing and unacceptable that a male veteran is 42 per cent more likely to commit suicide than a male who did not serve. If a male veteran was discharged on medical grounds, it becomes almost three times as likely. If you're a woman who served, you are twice as likely to commit suicide. A female veteran discharged on medical grounds is more than five times as likely to take their own life. Between 1997 and 2021, Australia recorded 1,677 suicides of people who had served this nation in uniform. Wearing a uniform in defence of this country and having the commitment to serve and the willingness to take up arms and put your life on the line for your fellow Australians and in defence of the values of Australia should not result in damage to your mental health so profound that it is potentially lethal.

In 2019, I spoke up in this place in support of the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Partner Service Pension and Other Measures) Bill, which was put to the parliament by the former government and again had bipartisan support. I talked about Eric, a Vietnam veteran living in Bridgewater in my electorate. Eric had complained about the way politicians are very happy to shake veterans' hands on commemorative days and on the campaign trail but we seem to soon forget about them once the cameras are off. I know that we in this place all have a genuine commitment to our veterans, but I try to look at it through his eyes. Through his eyes, he was seeing that we were there for the pomp and the ceremony but, when it came to dealing with the department and trying to cut through and navigate all those issues, we weren't there in the same way. That was an important point to me. He was angry about how difficult it was to access basic entitlements like medical care, services and benefits and how hard it was to deal with the department. I ended that speech by saying:

… we need to do better … Our veterans need the ongoing support of government and their community.

Those words remain just as true today, five years later, under a new government. That's what the bill aims to do—make it easier for veterans to access their entitlements. It shouldn't be hard.

That's not all this government is doing, I'm proud to say. The Albanese government has allocated more than $290,000, through the Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program, for Vietnam veterans in Tasmania. This funding fitted out a multipurpose education and training centre in Lake Sorell in my electorate to support 4,000 veterans, I was proud to be invited to open the Veteran Multipurpose Education and Training Facility recently, representing the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. I'd like to thank Terry Roe, the Tasmanian branch president of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, for the association's advocacy and hard work in making this facility a reality. It's part of a terrific complex that will provide terrific healing and respite for veterans and their families. If you know the Lake Sorell area at all, you know it's quite isolated. It is a beautiful part of the bush in the Central Highlands. It's just a really nice place to get away and collect your thoughts.

Earlier this year, the minister also approved a third round of grants for the Saluting Their Service program. This grant means veterans groups in every corner of Lyons get the chance to commemorate service and sacrifice. Saluting Their Service is already funding flagpoles for Molesworth Primary School, murals in Sheffield, plaques in Melton Mowbray and an entirely new cenotaph in the Meander Valley. The RSLs of Sheffield and the Northern Midlands will see existing commemorative structures rejuvenated and ready to serve as focal points of remembrance in the future.

In June, in this place, I spoke about the Swansea RSL and the flag in their possession. The flag had been kept hidden by Tasmanian Fred Pegg during his captivity in the notorious Changi Prison during World War II. That flag bears the signatures of 89 British and Australian servicemen who had been imprisoned there. It bears bullet holes and what looks to be dried human blood. Its very existence in that camp was an act of defiance in the face of extreme adversity, and it has now been gifted by the Pegg family to the RSL. Funding from the Saluting Their Service program will preserve this flag and associated memorabilia in custom-made housing at the Swansea RSL, where it will take pride of place.

It's difficult for me to express how moved I was when visiting the RSL and seeing that flag in front of me. As I mentioned in my speech in June, I remember the feeling of seeing this artefact that had been in Changi and written on by men in all sorts of conditions of emaciation and suffering. They'd put their names on this flag—an act of defiance and resilience that said, 'I'm here, and I matter.' It was really incredible. I felt like I wanted to touch this flag and, though I'm not a religious person, I felt reverence. I knew this was a national treasure. I believe it had been offered to the War Memorial, and they turned it down, but I thought, 'This is a magnificent piece of history.'

It will now take pride of place in the Swansea RSL, on the east coast of my electorate. It will be behind a mounted frame, in deoxygenated air; it's quite a set-up. I'm sure that, for the families and descendants of the many men who served and were imprisoned in Changi, this will become part of their journey. I recommend that every member go and have a look once it's up. I think it goes up sometime later this year,.

The bill before the House offers the biggest improvement, as I said, to veterans' entitlements in 20 years. I'm very proud to represent a government that continuously demonstrates its commitment to veterans. I acknowledge that this is a bipartisan issue, but the simple fact is that, when we came into government three years ago, we inherited 42,000 claims from veterans that had not yet been assessed.

We got to work quickly. In the 2022-23 October budget, the Albanese government invested $233.9 million in order to hire 500 frontline staff to deal with the backlog. In February this year, Minister Keogh confirmed that the number of unassessed claims had plummeted from 42,000 to around 1,700 and that the timeframe from submission to claim assessment was down to two weeks. I'm sure every member will be pleased to hear that.

But we didn't stop there. We've unlocked $186 million towards hiring an additional 141 staff to keep the applications flowing and to keep that backlog down. In our most recent budget, we have boosted veterans' home-care and community nursing programs with $48 million. It's important to note that, of course, increasing housing for veterans is part of our overall housing package.

We know there's still plenty to be done, and we're getting on with the job. There'll always be more to do to improve this area. But, as Eric told me in Bridgewater five years ago, veterans deserve so much more than a handshake and a platitude. This government is demonstrating, by the actions it's taking and the practical improvements it's implementing, that Australia's veterans can count on this Albanese Labor government to make the meaningful decisions that will make a difference. Lest we forget.

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