Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sadly, I am going to take the chamber on a journey back in time. On 12 April 1957, Able Seaman Thomas William Aldridge was a young member of the Royal Australian Navy. He was a youthful 29-year-old man, eager to serve his nation well. He was also the sole provider for his wife, Millie, and their three young children: Brian and Pamela, and Neil, who was still unborn. That day, Thomas was working for the HMS Thorough, which had lost a practice torpedo in Broken Bay, New South Wales. Thomas was part of the diving team required to search for that torpedo. It was a naval training exercise which turned into a horrible tragedy. While Thomas was diving, a detonator was thrown into the water by Thomas’s supervising officer. It was supposed to recall him to his ship, but it did not.

Thomas drowned that day; he did not make it back. Questions surrounding his death still linger. Was he too close to the explosion? Did it hit him? Perhaps we will never know what really happened that day. But what is not disputed is that he drowned during a naval training exercise for the Australian people. Thomas Aldridge’s widow, Mrs Millie Aldridge, was left heavily pregnant and without her husband, upon whom she had been entirely dependent. She never remarried and for the next 51 years—to this very day—continues to grieve the loss of her husband.

Millie received £3 a month compensation for each of her children until they each turned 16 years of age. This figure amounts to $113 a month in today’s dollar value, which is absolutely nothing. Millie was not granted a war widow’s pension. She was granted neither a gold card nor any ongoing medical support. She was never granted navy or military support nor any assistance from Legacy or any other organisation. Had Thomas’s death occurred today, Millie and her children would have been looked after by the Commonwealth in the most proper and decent way; instead, they were virtually abandoned. Today Millie’s health has deteriorated. Although she receives an age pension, she receives no other help from the Commonwealth. At the very least, a strong case exists for the provision of a gold card for Millie. Any decent person would agree that a gold card should be the minimal form of compensation payable by a government to help a woman whose husband paid the ultimate price in serving this nation.

I learned of Thomas’s death and the plight of Millie and her children through two of my constituents—Thomas’s brother and sister-in-law, Norm and Joan Aldridge. Norm and Joan have done the right thing and fought tooth and nail to get additional compensation for Millie. Also, at this point, I want to give a special thanks to Michaela Vaughan, the Deputy Director, Personnel Management, Navy Assistant Command. She too has seen the injustice of this case and has been a fantastic advocate for Millie and her family. Very sadly, these efforts have thus far failed.

Last October, I organised for Norm and Joan to meet with the former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon. Bruce Billson, who actually recommended and supported Norm and Joan in applying for an act of grace payment for Millie. This was to compensate her for medical claims and general compensation. Unfortunately, the election was called before this application could be submitted, meaning that Norm and Joan have had to begin the process all over again with the new government. I now plead with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and of course the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, to personally intervene and right a 50-year-old wrong. Thomas lost his life for his nation on that day in 1957. It is now our obligation to Thomas to care for Millie. No matter how many acts of legislation we try to hide behind, this is the right, decent and proper thing to do.