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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the outstanding contribution of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force to ensure the safety of our nation;

(2) recognises the support of their families and friends during their service; and

(3) acknowledges the positive social and economic impact the men and women of our defence force have on communities throughout Australia.

Last weekend I again took part—with the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the member for Lyne—in the Pollie Pedal bike ride for Soldier On. I rode from Kin Kin to Brisbane and stopped overnight at the Caloundra RSL in my electorate of Fisher, where we met with veterans at a special reception where we heard Daniel Keighran VC talk about his experiences in Afghanistan and how he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The ride, as I said, what was in support of Soldier On, which is a fantastic charity that is working to support service men and women both past and present.

In Fisher, I also have also instigated, with the support of Australia Zoo and our local RSLs, a Sunshine Coast veterans' day to add to the traditional ways that we recognise our veterans' service. On this day, during Veterans' Health Week, past and present ADF personnel and their partners receive free entry into the zoo. They enjoy their world-class animal experiences and spend some time with other former service men and women at events throughout the day organised by Mates4Mates, among others. It is just another of the many ways that my community pay their respects to the service men and women of the Australian Defence Force.

Why is it so important that we as a nation do as much as we can to support and honour our service men and women both past and present? It is because those men and women make such a huge contribution to our nation, often at a high cost to themselves and to their families that they leave behind. I pay tribute to those members of this parliament who have served our ADF in uniform. They give us so much, and they deserve our gratitude and support in return.

Through the ADF Parliamentary Program I've been fortunate to see the men and women of our armed forces at work. I strongly encourage new members to avail themselves of that fantastic program. I visited the Middle East region and spent time with troops who've been deployed on Operation Okra and Operation Highroad. I've travelled with HMAS Canberra and visited HMAS Cerberus. Recently I spent time on HMAS Melville off Fitzroy Island, where I met with two young Navy personnel: Executive Officer Sara Barnett and Midshipman Darby Langton. I was pleased to learn that Sara went to Maleny State High School, which is in my electorate, and Darby attended Beerwah State High School.

What I have seen has left me with absolutely no doubt of the massive contribution that the men and women of the ADF make to our nation. I've seen unmatched dedication, professionalism and commitment to our country. In the words and deeds of hundreds, if not thousands, of Australian men and women as they quietly went about their work I've seen a willingness to sacrifice and an eagerness to serve. We all know that the ADF keep us safe. With their professionalism and their skill they deter those who would seek to do us harm. They stand ready to defend us if the worst were to happen and our nation were put under direct threat. Across the world they work tirelessly to protect us from terrorism and they patrol the seas to help stop the flow of harmful drugs into Australia. They secure our coastline through Operation Sovereign Borders and they keep shipping lanes safe for our commerce in waters all across the globe.

At home the ADF do a great deal to protect our economy and build local communities. When natural disasters like floods and cyclones hit, the ADF deploy to rescue those who are in danger, to protect property and to repair the destruction. Manufacturing the equipment of our troops requires the support of thousands of Australian workers. Their doctors and nurses work in our health service. In every community where an ADF base is situated they bring fresh and welcome prosperity. But the contribution of the ADF goes even further beyond our borders.

Recently I joined many colleagues for 4 July celebrations aboard visiting supercarrier the USS Ronald Reagan. The US and Australia are the closest of partners. At the heart of our partnership is the cooperation between our two militaries. We have stuck with each other through thick and thin since the trenches of World War I. As we've seen off the coast of Queensland just this week with Exercise Talisman Sabre, that cooperation into the future will ensure that our two countries continue to enjoy that close working relationship.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my friend across the chamber the member for Fisher for moving this motion. I think it's important we do acknowledge the role of our serving men and women, their families and those who have come back as veterans, who are being looked after by the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I do so having had the great privilege of being a Minister for Defence Science and Personnel and also a Minister for Veterans' Affairs in a previous government. I concur with the observations of the previous speaker about the immense importance, value, courage, dedication and commitment—all of those things—of our men and women in uniform. I don't think we can underestimate that value to any of us individually, collectively or nationally.

Such sacrifice was made in the dark days of World War I and before that in the Boer War. Serving people left Australia ostensibly in Australia's interest—although some might argue that that was not the case in the Boer War—and they did so in uniform and willingly. We need to all understand that when they put that uniform on they are committing themselves to the possibility of sacrificing their lives—every one of them; men and women. I think we need to see the value in that and the value of their contribution.

The average term of service for a defence person is seven to eight years. It's a young person's vocation. There are the lifers, absolutely—people who have careers as officers and become Chief of Army, Chief of Air Force and the rest of it, or Chief of the Defence Force—but the fact is that most don't. What we need to comprehend is that the sacrifices they make whilst they're in their uniform, especially if they've served overseas or are serving overseas, depending on the number of rotations they've done, may have a tremendous impact on them personally, either then or some time later. We're seeing the consequences of that in terms of the mental health issues which are confronting many of our veterans, and the suicide rates. We need to believe that we can do a lot better in assisting them when they come home. Importantly, also we need to understand that it's about families. The people who buttress our serving men and women when they come home, when they separate from the Defence Force, are their families. The people who look after them when they're injured, either mentally or physically, while in uniform are, more often than not, their families. We need to appreciate the sacrifices that families make, particularly children, when their parents are in the defence community. This motion calls us to recognise the support of their families and friends during their service, which we should do. It also acknowledges the positive social and economic impact that the men and women of our Defence Force have on our communities throughout Australia.

I want to very briefly talk about that contribution in the Northern Territory. Since the late 1980s, we've seen a significant movement north of defence personnel. Currently in the Northern Territory there are 5,336 uniformed and non-uniformed defence personnel: 3,311 in the Army, 1,100 in the Air Force, 630 in the Navy and 250 civilians. The value to the Northern Territory economy—and this is an important figure—is 8.4 per cent of gross state product, at a value of $2.1 billion. I don't think this is properly understood by the broader Northern Territory community, and it needs to be, because not only are these people serving for us but they are serving with us. They are living in our communities, their families are part of our communities and they are making an enormous contribution, both socially and economically, to those communities, and in this case particularly in the Northern Territory.

I want to make particular reference to an organisation which is not often recognised: the Regional Force Surveillance Group. It was formed in 2018 to provide littoral surveillance and reconnaissance capability in Australia's north and north-west. It comprises the surveillance units NORFORCE, the Pilbara Regiment and 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment. Its commander is Colonel John Papalitsas, who resides at Larrakeyah. It has units operating right across northern Australia. Its most significant impact is through the support it gives to Indigenous people across the north—contributing, putting on a uniform and being part of NORFORCE. We need to acknowledge the group.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gave me great pleasure to second the motion. As you and other members would be aware, I served in the Australian Defence Force. I served as an infantry soldier in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and doing so was my absolute pleasure. While deployed in East Timor and Afghanistan, I witnessed firsthand the commitment and dedication of the men and women of our armed forces—commitment and dedication on the battlefield, which is difficult for those who are left behind to see and fully understand. But, on the night of 3 February this year, that commitment and dedication was witnessed a lot closer to home. On that night in Townsville, the rain was pelting down and the Ross River was rising. Thousands of residents were on edge, not knowing if the water would reach their doorstep. Homes began to be inundated. Many of those homes were owned by members of the Defence Force. But if you were to go and visit those homes, you wouldn't have anyone there. They weren't sandbagging their doors, they weren't lifting their furniture up onto kitchen benches and they weren't packing their car and fleeing to higher ground. No, these people were doing that for others: sandbagging homes, saving belongings and risking their own lives to rescue the elderly, the infirm and others who had no other way of finding a safe place to weather the storm.

While they could have been serving themselves, they were instead serving their community. At the height of the disaster, it was reported that up to 1,200 Defence Force personnel were assisting civil emergency services with evacuations. And, being a proud garrison city, most of these personnel lived in the Townsville community.

It is important to recognise the support of the families and friends this morning. Let's not forget the husbands, wives, partners and children, themselves victims of this horrific event, who had to face the challenge head on without the help of their serving family member. Their sacrifice for the community cannot go unnoticed as they took on the stresses and worries of such an unprecedented disaster without their usual support mechanisms in place—not to mention those with family members deployed on active duty overseas already dealing with the difficulties which that entails—and had to face their own battles at home.

But the support of the Australian Defence Force personnel didn't end there on the night of the disaster. In the days and weeks following, Townsville streets were swarming with Army vehicles. Throughout the suburbs, our serving men and women spent their days cleaning up debris, washing out houses and trucking away potential hazardous furniture and household items to where they could be safely disposed of. Around 2,800 people spent much of February and March assisting Townsville City Council and emergency services.

Let's not forget Team Rubicon Australia who gathered the skills and expertise of the Defence Force veterans and set up shop at the Reid Park Pit Complex to assist with the recovery process. Team Rubicon, spearheaded by Geoff Evans, saw veterans and Defence Force personnel come from all around the country and all around the world to Townsville to help with our disaster and the clean-up.

This is just one example, but the immediate and ongoing response to the Townsville flood paints a vivid picture of the extent to which the men and women of the Australian Defence Force will serve not only their own country but their own community in times of need.

I'd like to acknowledge the unique nature of military service and thank the men and women of the Australian Defence Force for their dedication to duty to our country and, of course, protecting our way of life on operations abroad. Townsville was hit with a one-in-500-years flood. The Australian Defence Force were out every night and every day helping our community. I'd like to thank them and pay tribute to them in the House today.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people who serve our nation in the Australian Defence Force make an invaluable contribution to the safety and the prosperity of our nation. They put their lives on the line to protect and serve. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to recognise them and thank them for their service today.

I'd also like to extend my thanks to the member for Fisher for raising this important topic. He and I, as members of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, had the opportunity to travel to the Avalon airshow and look at some of the incredible skills that the members of the Australian Defence Force acquire. We witnessed air-to-air refuelling and many other really specific and specialised skills that those people need to take on in order to provide the service to us that they do. Those people are absolutely vital to RAAF Base Williamtown, which is located almost exactly in the centre of my electorate.

Since I was elected in 2016, I've been fortunate enough to have had firsthand experience looking at the lives and service of service men and women who serve at RAAF Base Williamtown—both the sacrifices they make and the contribution they make to our community. Thousands of people call RAAF Base Williamtown home, and work. It's not unique to see a person in uniform picking up the kids from school, buying a coffee at the local coffee shop or dropping things off, as the day progresses, to family and friends throughout our community. It's not uncommon to hear the sound of world-class jets flying overhead.

And it is an incredibly special thing to see them up close. Events such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day are made especially significant by the incredible number of people who come together to remember, recognise and thank our past and present ADF members. Our celebrations in Port Stephens are particularly poignant, when you see serving defence members en masse, there to recognise the importance of such days to all of us in our community. But it really does bring it home when you see a large group of people in uniform on Anzac Day.

The families of our Defence Force, as the member for Lingiari noted just a moment ago, are the buttresses, though. They are the people they return home to, whom they are able to confide in and download some of those pressures of the work of the Australian Defence Force—mothers, fathers and siblings, who support their kids as they travel across Australia and the world, eagerly awaiting a phone call or a return home visit. Husbands, wives and children who move from base to base, from town to town, are forced to pack up the house, unpack the house, make new friends at school and find new doctors and dentists. These are things that many of us just take for granted, but it's not until you've lived that lifestyle that you realise just how difficult it can be for family members to make those sacrifices and really turn their world upside down so that our world can be just that bit safer.

There are some fantastic community programs in Williamtown for those families who are being relocated to our area. We have a great community in Port Stephens that really understands the pressures of defence families and welcomes them in. We're used to welcoming people in, and I'm so proud that our local community does that, with such eagerness and tenderness. Tomaree Education Centre has a great program for children of defence personnel to help them make that transition. If you've ever been somewhere and realised how difficult it is to make friends—well, this program makes it easier for people to do so. So, I wanted to especially mention them and say thankyou for that.

I also want to quickly give a special mention to Senior Australian Defence Force Officer Group Captain Peter Cluff—Cluffy, you do an amazing job—and to Air Commodore Barbara Courtney, who recently took over the Surveillance and Response Group from Air Commodore Craig Heap. Welcome, Barbara; thank you, Heapy, for what you've done for our base—and thank you to everyone who serves in the Australian Defence Force.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tasmania has a long and proud history of serving in the Australian Defence Force. In my electorate of Bass the Paterson Barracks—which is in the process of being moved to a new location, partly funded by the coalition government—is the home of the 16th Field Battery, which is the oldest artillery unit in Australia. From as far back as the Boer War, where over 800 Tasmanians served, through to our most recent involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq and the many peacekeeping and humanitarian operations across the world, thousands of men and women have made an outstanding contribution as part of our defence forces. We are fortunate to have heard from them firsthand in this place about their service and sacrifice and about the ongoing challenges faced by those who have served our nation.

I would especially like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and pay tribute to the support provided by the families and friends of our serving Defence Force, particularly the partners and children of serving members who are overseas. It is not an easy life to be part of a defence family, and the sacrifices made by the families of defence personnel ought to be recognised. They are often separated from loved ones and support them through those often lifelong physical and mental consequences of their service.

For almost a decade prior to being elected as the member for Bass, I was an elected member of the George Town Council. Like many regional towns in northern Tasmania, George Town has a proud history of Defence service. On occasions such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day the community come together in great numbers to reflect and commemorate. It is on these occasions that we see the community support that exists for our Defence personnel, past and present.

During my time at the council I was fortunate to develop a close relationship with the local RSL sub-branch. For various reasons, the club had encountered some difficulties that led to the closure of their building. But with the assistance of the council and the dedication of the volunteer membership of the sub-branch, they were able to re-establish themselves in a disused room in the town's memorial hall. A few years later, with the support of the state Liberal government, they moved into a new main street location. This has allowed them the opportunity to connect with the community, to host important commemorative occasions, such as Anzac Day, and to house an extensive memorabilia display as well as provide space for welfare and advocacy. The journey of the RSL sub-branch from decline to renewal highlighted to me the positive social impact the defence community have on the wider community. Membership has increased and the main street is reinvigorated by their presence.

Tasmania is also home to a growing defence industry, providing niche capabilities for the ADF and exporting world-class technology around the globe. I am especially proud of the government's $30 million phase 1 investment in the Tasmanian defence innovation and design precinct at the University of Tasmania's Australian Maritime College. This will help drive defence related research and development projects, creating more jobs in Launceston and a world-class research precinct.

By supporting phase 1 of the research and design precinct, the Morrison government is supporting the high value testing and evaluation needs of the Royal Australian Navy, increasing opportunities for greater collaboration between defence, academia and industry to deliver cutting-edge defence capability and to build the AMC's capability to support the national shipbuilding college as it builds the workforce of the future, to deliver on the national naval shipbuilding plan.

We estimate an additional 150 jobs in the region will be created each year, which is a significant boost for the economy of Bass. Additionally, we expect up to 58 jobs will be created during the construction program. I have already met with Minister Reynolds to discuss the rollout of this project and look forward to working with the minister as this substantial project gets underway. This is another example of the way in which the defence forces in Australia are connecting the community and the economy.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a member for parliament I've had the opportunity to do and experience things I would never have previously dreamed of. In 2017 I participated in a visit to Australian defence personnel in the Middle East and Afghanistan, where we lived and trained alongside personnel for 10 days. That opportunity gave me a valuable insight into the lives of the men and women in our defence forces. We had the opportunity to learn of their experiences on the ground and to ask what we as their elected representatives can do to further support them in their roles, both here in Canberra and across the country. Our Navy, Army and Air Force do an incredibly challenging job in often very difficult circumstances and it is important that we always support them.

As a Western Australian MP and a dad, I'm very conscious of the toll taken on any families by a FIFO lifestyle. When I went to the Middle East, I remember standing at Darwin airport watching a Defence Force mum saying goodbye to her young family before flying out on her deployment with us. While over there, I spoke to countless troops—sailors, airmen and airwomen—about their families, who go up to six months or more without being reunited. That really brought home the personal sacrifice of each and every individual on the frontline and behind the scenes.

Last week this was reinforced. I had the opportunity to take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre in Queensland, the principal biennial Australian and US military training exercise that combines our naval, army and air forces in high-end war fighting. I want to thank all of the ADF personnel that enabled my visit. I have nothing but respect and admiration for our ADF members. We have an obligation to ensure that all of our personnel are kept safe, here and abroad, both mentally and physically. The same goes for when they come home.

When a person enlists in the Australian Defence Force, they undertake a commitment to our country and, necessarily, maybe placing their health and wellbeing on the line in service to our nation. In return, we are compelled to look after them and their families, both during and after their time in the Defence Force. This commitment is more than just about their physical health. It is about taking a holistic view of the member and their loved ones.

We have a duty to care for those who service has had a greater impact on, and their families, now and into the future. When an individual serves in the ADF, their family serves with them. Military families make so many sacrifices. As I said before, we're well aware that many service men and women are deployed for months at a time. This separation would no doubt cause emotional stress for them, their partners and their children. When personnel are not on deployment, they are on regular repostings to different bases around the country, meaning that they have to choose between uprooting their whole family and living apart for periods of time.

The various defence establishments around the country are not all bad, though. They also go a long way towards stimulating local economies, particularly in regional centres like Townsville, which thrive from the economic contributions of personnel and their families being based there. The Department of Defence estimates that defence activity in the region contributes approximately 20 per cent of the gross regional product. The presence of defence facilities in regional areas not only increases spending in local communities; it results in increased social and environmental support and investment, community involvement, educational and training opportunities and health access.

Similarly, a significant number of veterans make great contributions to the defence industry long after they've hung up their boots, making an ongoing contribution to our nation. For example, more than 20 per cent of Boeing's defence subsidiaries—Boeing Defence Australia and Insitu Pacific—are veterans, and many are in management positions. Last year, Boeing Defence Australia was recognised for its support and recruitment of veterans and received the inaugural Prime Minister's veterans' employment award, Veterans' Employer of the Year.

Our Defence Force personnel put their lives on hold in the service of our country. They take risks and make sacrifices, sometimes committing their lives and wellbeing for the good of the country. In return we must do everything in our power to support them. As I've heard at meetings of local RSLs and from family and friends, and as I've discussed with many constituents in my electorate, these risks and sacrifices, mental and physical, are very real. They are hard to manage. They take a huge toll on individuals and on families. Veterans and their families need our full political and community support.

So I take this opportunity to thank all of our soldiers, sailors and aviators, deployed across the globe and based all around Australia, for everything that they do.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.