Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Engraved in the centre of the sanctuary in the heart of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance are the words, 'Greater love hath no man.' Once a year at 11.00 am on Remembrance Day, a ray of sunlight shines upon the word 'love'. Although brief, this inscription captures the immensity of the contribution made by Australian service men and women in times of war and peace. Indeed, there can be no greater sacrifice, no greater love, than to knowingly put yourself in harm's way for your country, for your family and for the ideals and values which underpin our way of life.

My electorate of Hawke is home to a strong and proud veterans community. They are greatly served by the Melton, Sunbury, Ballan and Bacchus Marsh RSLs and the Vietnam vets organisation in Melton. It is one of the great privileges of my job to spend time with these veterans, hear their stories and be part of the great camaraderie they share for one another, regardless of who they are or when and where they served. I know they and so many of our active duty and returned service personnel see their contribution to our country in such a humble light. For them, it's about getting a job done, getting it done right, and doing it because it is the right thing to do. But, as we stand here in this place, where government is burdened with the solemn power to send Australian men and women into danger abroad, we cannot lose sight of the heft of our veterans' sacrifice. We cannot forget the personal cost of their great love, and our commemoration of them cannot end with the purchase of a poppy or attendance at a dawn service.

The test of the truly grateful nation is how we support our service men and women when the battles are over and the parades have ended. It is about assisting them in their transition to life after their military service. It is about providing comprehensive and accessible care for those who have returned with scars, seen and unseen. It is about how we support the families of our defence personnel, whose challenges can be unique and complex. It is about putting veterans and those who love them at the centre of the systems we build to support them.

This bill makes minor and technical amendments to existing veterans affairs legislation. These measures will address anomalies and make improvements to the operation of the legislation to better support veterans and their families. The bill comprises amendments in five key areas.

One, it will require the Repatriation Medical Authority to provide an annual report for tabling in parliament. This legislates an existing practice to ensure accountability beyond convention. I'm pleased that the Repatriation Medical Authority have been consulted and they support this measure.

Two, it makes amendments to section 330 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and section 58 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-Related Claims) Act to use language which better reflects the actual and existing practice of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission when handling incomplete applications. This change is greatly important in reassuring veterans and their families who are navigating claims with the MRCC that their claims are being deferred, rather than rejected, when the commission requires more information to be provided. Words that the government uses matter, particularly when dealing with the sensitive claims managed by the MRCC. This amendment will ensure no veteran or their family is left distressed by inaccurately being led to believe that their claim has been rejected because of the language previously used.

Three, it will fix incorrect references in the Veterans' Entitlements Act to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act. Four, it will amend the Defence Service Homes Act to clarify the determination, revocation, replacement, variation and content of the statement of conditions—a type of product disclosure statement.

Five, it will align the private vehicle allowance rate in the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act to the MRCA and the DRCA. This will create ongoing administrative efficiency and provide consistency and certainty for veterans, their families and the department through a legislated and transparent set rate.

These changes are technical and minor, but this government is in the business of improving and supporting veterans, no matter the size of the change. Our duty to our returned service men and women requires a whole-of-government commitment to fixing errors in legislation and process where we see them. Indeed, it speaks to the Albanese government's commitment to delivering for veterans and their families, as we said we would at the election.

In a year when we commemorate 50 years since the end of Australia's involvement in the war in Vietnam and 20 years since the beginning of our involvement in the war in Iraq, our humble offering to serving and former defence personnel must be to answer the call of the royal commission and continue our support for them. This bill will legislate small but important changes to improve the lives of our service men and women, our veterans and their families. I yield the rest of the time to the honourable member for Menzies and, in doing so, I note his great service to our country.

Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was a wonderful contribution from the member for Hawke. I particularly liked his reminder that at that particular time of day the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne does shine brightly on the word 'love'. That should never be forgotten when we remember with love and affection.

The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023 is not controversial at all. I won't be using my full time either—just fair warning for my friends. It's important we stand here on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Not long ago in the Members Hall there was a bipartisan, multiparty and independent gathering of members from the House and senators. It's a credit to the Australian people and the people they send here that now we fairly accept that we can honour and look after our veterans and still have all of the debates about the merits of wars. I think there was a time when Australia wasn't very good at doing that. Full credit to Simon Crean, who, at the time, had a different view on the Iraq war—and hindsight has been kind to that view. At that time it wasn't a popular or easy thing to do, but he still showed up to farewell the troops and sailors who were deploying. I think that was an admirable statement by him, when he said we can separate those two things.

When I was watching the Prime Minister hand out those medallions to the Vietnam veterans, I looked around and it wasn't a particular party that was represented there; it was all of us; there were members of the Greens and Independents; and that was a really nice thing. I think we've come a long way as a nation.

Today, 29 March, is the 50th anniversary of the US withdrawal from Vietnam. Who can forget that image of the Chinook helicopter on the top of the US Embassy in Vietnam? It's an iconic picture, which, sadly, was also replicated at the end of the Afghanistan War; they were very similar images. There's no easy way to end a conflict like that. The Prime Minister quite rightly read out the numbers of Australian servicemen and women who went to Vietnam and were killed, and those who were left with many scars from that war. We also have another anniversary this year, the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. It's a particularly important year for us in acknowledging those events.

But I'll come back to the Vietnam War. It changed so many lives, including that of a young man called Trung Luu, who got on a boat as a refugee from Vietnam and took that perilous journey with his family to come to Australia, Victoria and Melbourne. For me, as a Liberal, but also as a Victorian and an Australian, it was with a sense of pride that I saw him deliver his first speech as a member of the Legislative Council in the Victorian parliament. That says so much about our nation—that someone could get on a boat in Vietnam as a refugee, and then stand there proudly representing our country. And that wasn't the only time he has represented us. He was a longstanding, multi-decade member of the Victorian police force and a member of the Army Reserve as well. He has served this country so many times, and we thank him for his service. I'm sure he'll have a wonderful contribution to make in the Victorian parliament.

I'd also like to acknowledge the work of the RSLs in my electorate: the Box Hill RSL, Templestowe RSL, Doncaster RSL and Warrandyte RSL. RSLs are important organisations not just for the members who go there and socialise but also for their connection to our community. We rely on the RSLs to do the Remembrance Day services, the Anzac Day services and the catafalque parties, and to write to members of the House and senators to get them to come and give speeches, which we all appreciate and take very seriously. There are individuals in my electorate, and, in particular, I think of the Vietnam veterans like Bob Slater and Paul Beraldo. The member for Solomon's father is a Vietnam veteran and lives in my electorate. I love chatting with him. We have friendly banter, and he chest pokes me about why I'm in my party and not his, and I return the favour.

There's nothing controversial about this bill. It fixes up some things that we can all agree on, and that happens from time to time. But these are often useful occasions to acknowledge the people who have come before us and sacrificed—not just them but their families—and we do appreciate it in this place. It has multipartisan support, and this nation has come a long way in making that distinction.

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

ITCHELL () (): Today I rise proudly to support the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023. It's this kind of work we do on this kind of bill that goes across party lines, and it goes to the spirit and the strength of what makes our democracy great. When it comes to our veterans and our current serving and former ADF personnel, we do take the time to reflect and remember, particularly as we head into what is, hopefully, the second-last sitting day before our Anzac Day services. To me, without a doubt, the most important event on the Australian calendar is the Anzac Day service. This year, I'm going to have the absolute honour of being with probably our last World War II veteran. He has now reached triple figures. He has great pride in taking part in the marches. What he has done with communities is just absolutely amazing. We know that there are a lot of members in this parliament and, when we look back, in previous parliaments who have been members of the ADF and who have served their country.

One of great things that we do have in this parliament, of course, is the ADF program. The member for Riverina and I have made a few trips right across the globe, and we've seen and done a few things, but the most important thing that we've done together is to sit down and talk to personnel directly, with no fanfare and with no suits and ties. I remember sitting and drinking that terrible 'near beer' in Afghanistan. It's so bad you could kill paspalum with it. It was important to sit there and listen to their stories about what they're hearing, what they feel and what they go through. It's a story replicated by anyone who has been in the ADF and been in the theatre of war. As both previous speakers have said, there's no greater love for your country than putting your life on the line. As we come to the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, we think about the 62,100 men and women that went there.

One of the great achievements that I've been able to be involved in was building the commemorative walk in Seymour. Five veterans sat with me in a lounge room and said, 'We want to do this,' and at the time, my predecessor said it was not possible. I was desperate to win that I said: 'Yes, let's do it. Let's get going.' Anyone who has had the chance to go to the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk will see that it's not a memorial; it's a commemorative walk. We fought tooth and nail to get a huge wall built with the name of every person that went, including a separate wall for the 522 Australians who lost their lives in the Vietnam conflict. It was a long process. What they wanted for this commemorative wall was to have artefacts from the Vietnam War, including a 'Huey' helicopter, which is the symbol of the Vietnam War. The painting that depicts the dust-off from the Vietnam War proudly hangs in my office, and I treasure that.

We took on the challenges to get that 'Huey' helicopter there and put it up on a pole, so it looks like it's flying around past a scaled-down version of the Luscombe Bowl, which was, of course, the site of the famous concert on the night of the start of the Battle of Long Tan. Further up, we have an armoured personnel carrier. I remember going out to the armoured car workshops at Puckapunyal and seeing an APC that was used in the Long Tan battle, and I thought, 'How good would it be to get that sitting on the commemorative area?' That area has all the rubber trees and everything in it, including the Long Tan cross that was made by one of the original sculptors who did the one in Vietnam, so it's a very special place. I thought, 'It would be really great if we can get hold of this,' and Major Peter Branagan, who the workshops are named after, bellowed across the chamber: 'You're not getting your filthy hands on that. That's ours!' So the compromise was that the armour plate on the front of the APC is actually from one in Vietnam. But, to me, that spoke to how important it was for them that that piece of artillery stay at Puckapunyal, where they are. They guard that with every breath they have. When I hear these sorts of stories and speak to veterans, I think of the nashos. Ian Goss, in the member for Hawke's electorate, came to me and said, 'Let's start a dawn service.' We did that with the nashos.

We look back at what our veterans have done and what they've faced—and at the ones who have made the ultimate sacrifice. I've often spoken in this place of VX39234. That's my grandfather, who served in Tobruk and then in Papua New Guinea as an anti-aircraft gunner. When he left the Army at the end of 1945, he was discharged with shell shock, which we now know is actually PTSD. If you're an anti-aircraft gunner, those things are loud and persistent, particularly when you're somewhere like Tobruk, and back in those days there was no hearing protection. Those guys stood in the desert, day in, day out, in a pair of shorts. That really got to him.

Our veterans from Vietnam and from the Middle East go through a lot of problems, and it's incumbent on us to do everything we can to support them and to help them because there are many scars that we don't see, there are many memories that we don't see and there are many things that they've seen that we don't want to see. But we have an obligation to work together to make sure that we look after them. I'm not going to have a crack at the former government, but one thing that has really annoyed me for a long time is the time it takes for veterans to get their claims heard and assessed. It has been woeful. I think of one veteran who had to wait a thousand days just to get his claim heard. That's absolutely wrong. It's painful when you see someone sitting there, and they're just in this limbo and they don't know what has to happen.

Before the election, we said we would increase DVA staffing. It has been unanimous across the board that everyone has had issues with the way the DVA has operated. I want to particularly thank Minister Keogh. I rang him, and, in my gentle tones and calm voice, I spoke to him bluntly about the need to have this addressed.

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

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

Yes—we couldn't say a lot of those words in this place. But the thing is that Minister Keogh then took that straight on board, and, in 24 hours, the claim was not only assessed but approved. We can't do that for everyone, but what we need to do is to make sure that we put in place measures that help veterans to get things done sooner and quicker, and that's what this bill is about. It's about making sure that we, as a parliament and as a government, do the right thing by our veterans. Sometimes that means we've got to go the extra mile or we've got to change things, but we've got to do things collaboratively and accept that none of us come here with the perfect solution. We've got to work to make sure that we do things better.

We don't want to see people return from theatres of war to be told that they've got shell shock and, 'Here's your pay cheque. See you later.' If we, as a country, want to send our men and women into a place of harm, we need to take that responsibility to look after them when they get back—and that varies. There are so many different people who go through many different experiences that are just horrific.

As I said, the member for Riverina and I have been to spots. I've travelled through Long Tan. The one place I'm desperate to get to is Tobruk, but we're not allowed to go there at the moment. When you go through those fields and you get the feel and the smell of what they go through in peacetime, you can only imagine what it's like in times of conflict. When you get to spend time with people who put themselves on the line and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, then our obligation goes beyond just our moral values; it goes to our national values and what we believe in and what we stand by.

This bill and these measures—they're not huge measures—tidy things up. They make things just that step easier. I think the important bit is that we make the time, the energy and the effort to look after veterans. As the member for Menzies pointed out, it's the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Anyone who has looked at the Vietnam War and Australia's position on the Vietnam War knows that there were many varied views about the war and what we should have done. But I think the consistent view, at the end of the day, is that we made the decision as a country to send people over there, and we owed them respect when they got back. That change happened. Prime Minister Bob Hawke really brought that to national attention when he created Vietnam Veterans' Day, or Long Tan day. I think it's been growing steadily ever since—the importance of it and the importance of what those people did. I've never done it and I don't think I'd like to do it, but I have the utmost respect for those that do. I don't think that's a unique perspective; I think that's a perspective shared by everyone in this place. The question is how we do that. How do we put that into practical measures?

Increasing the staff in DVA to help speed up the claims process, getting those claims through and heard and done, with support, is something that we need to do. It's important that we walk the walk when we talk the talk. I think that this government has been very focused on what we learnt from the royal commission. We can talk about that another time, but we know that that's been a horrific process for a lot of people. We've just got to keep working together as a parliament and as a nation to make sure that we give people the respect that they've earnt and the ability to have the best possible lives. With that, I wish this bill a very, very speedy passage.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank other members who have spoken on this important bill, the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023, this non-controversial bill insofar as it has bipartisan support—and so it should. Veterans are important. As previous members have noted, today is the 50th anniversary of America's withdrawal from Vietnam, a conflict which claimed the lives of 523 Australians. They are honoured on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial, just down the way—523 Australians, many of whom are buried back in their home communities. There are 70,000 Australians from the two world wars who are not buried in their home communities. They're buried in foreign fields. Their service is remembered on 11 November and on 25 April, but their service should be remembered each and every day of the year because we shouldn't just say 'lest we forget' on those important, significant national days; we should say it every day.

I'm thankful in my electorate—it's very much a military focused electorate, Wagga Wagga being the only inland regional centre in all of Australia with all three arms of the Defence Force. There's the Army training centre at Kapooka, where every single soldier does his or her basic training for 13 or so weeks. There's the Royal Australian Air Force at Forest Hill. If you spend any time in the Air Force, you may well end up serving at Wagga Wagga. And we have an important strategic Navy base, which does a lot of work with HMAS Albatross and the rest of the Navy family.

The purpose of this bill is to deliver minor and uncontroversial amendments to ensure that consistency of veterans compensation for medical travel across the various acts facilitates an annual report from the Repatriation Medical Authority. It modernises some language within acts, it updates references to some superseded acts and it clarifies powers of the minister in relation to the Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme. Generally speaking, it tidies up miscellaneous measures, and that is why we need to pass it and that is why we will pass it.

Whilst I'm on my feet I would like to again—and with the minister in the chamber—express the view that the $5 million that was committed by the coalition, the previous government, for a wellbeing centre, a wellness centre, in Wagga Wagga should be honoured in the May budget. It's so important. There's a lot of work going on in Wagga Wagga at the moment with RSL LifeCare's Riverina Veteran Wellbeing Centre but also with the community driven Pro Patria Centre, the chair of which is Lyle Salmon, former RAAF personnel. There are very committed members, including Jason Frost, ex-Army. These members want to see a wellbeing centre for veterans.

The coalition government invested more than $11½ billion each year to support the wellbeing of around 340,000 veterans and, just as importantly, their families. There can be no more noble and worthy people. The coalition instituted the ongoing Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which conducted several days of hearings in Wagga Wagga. I'm not making a political point. The member for McEwen made a point about the management of the veterans' affairs portfolio and the delays or lags for veterans. I note that, for 500 additional veterans, there's a claims backlog since the change of government in May last year. I'd also say to any veteran who may be reading this or who may even be listening, if you do need help, please seek help. If you haven't had a good experience with the Department of Veterans' Affairs, please try again. There are people there who are willing, able and eager to help. That assistance is available, and I urge those veterans to take up that help.

The member for McEwen mentioned Minister Matt Keogh. I would like to see this portfolio be included in cabinet. I'm a former veterans' affairs minister, and I know that it is a difficult, complex portfolio area. It's a very important portfolio area, and it needs to be around the big table. If it's good enough for those opposite to be pushing the Voice for outcomes for improving the lives and the lot of Aboriginal people, surely our veterans deserve to have someone around the decision-making cabinet table. This should happen. The veterans' affairs minister, whether it's Minister Keogh or someone else in the future, needs to be around the cabinet table to have the ear of the Prime Minister and the other cabinet ministers. Veterans deserve at least that much.

I commend this legislation to the House.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023, which I support. At the outset, I acknowledge and thank all of our current serving veterans, as well as those who have left the military. Thank you for your service.

My electorate of Hughes is proud to house the Holsworthy military barracks. It is one of the Australian Army's major footprints within New South Wales and includes many Army and tri-service training institutions, as well as various regular and reserve Army units. It includes a special operations engineers regiment, as well as the 1st and 2nd special ops commando regiments. I was very honoured to witness the Green Berets passing-out parade in November last year. Holsworthy Barracks is also the staging location for domestic operations in New South Wales and covers almost 20,000 hectares of land. The 2021 census identified that over 3,640 people who live in my electorate of Hughes have either current or former ADF service. Again, I thank them, as well as all of our other serving ADF members.

The measures in this bill are largely uncontroversial. There are minor amendments that will ensure, for example, consistency of veteran compensation for medical travel and the preparation of an annual report on the Repatriation Medical Authority. The bill modernises some of the language that is in older acts and updates references to some superseded acts. I commend the bill to the House.

I do mention that the coalition government did invest over $11.5 billion each year to support the wellbeing of around 340,000 veterans and their families, and I would ask that the current Labor government continue to provide that support to our veterans. We haven't always done it well in this country—acknowledging veterans returning, particularly those who returned from the Vietnam War. The coalition also instigated the ongoing Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and I know the government has started to enact some of those recommendations that have come out of that report.

However, under the Labor government, veterans have lost their voice around the cabinet table. I commend the member for Riverina, who was a former veterans' affairs minister, and the comments he made about the importance of the veterans' affairs portfolio being within cabinet. I think we owe that to our veterans, to ensure they are being provided with adequate support and advocacy at the highest level of government. The bill includes largely uncontroversial amendments but will assist to ensure we are providing ongoing support to our returned veterans, particularly when they are seeking medical assistance.

This year marks the 50-year anniversary since the end of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. As a nation, we have not done enough to acknowledge the service given by our veterans in Vietnam—many of whom were not volunteers. Today it was wonderful to be part of a parliamentary event where we met former Vietnam veterans and their families to thank them for their service and to provide them with the acknowledgement they so deserve. In my electorate, I've been honoured to meet with many returned Vietnam veterans and their families, and to present them with a certificate of appreciation from the Australian government that's signed by the current Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Keogh.

I take this opportunity to mention just some of those to whom I've presented a certificate recently. First of all, I will mention some who served in World War II; some of them are posthumous. I mention Cecil Eric Doyle, Michael James Foley, Frederick Maurice Doyle and William Andrew Doyle; they all served in World War II. Serving in Vietnam were George Edward; Kenneth Wood; Mervyn Douglas Nann; Terence Michael Doyle; Leonard Spencer Vine; and Steven John Tovey, who served in both Vietnam and Malaysia.

To conclude, I commend this bill to the House. I thank all our currently serving ADF members, as well as those who have returned, for their service.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to sum up the debate on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023. It's an auspicious day to be doing so, because, as alluded to by some of the previous speakers, today we launched the commemorative medallions and certificates for our Vietnam veterans as part of this year's commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. It was an absolute pleasure and indeed honour to be joined by 10 of our Vietnam veterans, who received the first of those medallions. They were handed to them by the Prime Minister, and I thank him very much for being part of that event. I thank all members of parliament across all parties who were involved and came to participate in that event. That showed that this is not about politics; it's about recognising the service of our veterans who were not properly recognised at the time of their service.

I recognise and thank all members who have contributed to the debate on this bill and acknowledge the continuing tradition of non-partisan support for our veteran community, as we've seen in the speeches made on the bill before us at the moment. In particular I also thank all the members who spoke on this bill for their ongoing support for my role as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the work we are doing to support our veterans. I know that there was some discussion by members about the backlog of claims that currently confronts the Department of Veterans' Affairs. That is a serious issue. It's why, at the last election, we made a commitment to get through that backlog as quickly as we could by employing 500 additional staff in the Department of Veterans' Affairs. We've now employed 275 of those additional staff. We've seen those numbers continue to grow since we came into government. We have now, from July, turned a corner on that and are eating into the backlog of claims that we inherited from the previous government.

It's not only the resourcing of the department which is important. It is also important to reform the legislation that underpins the entitlement system for compensation and rehabilitation for our veterans. That's why we are proceeding with our Veterans' Legislation Reform Consultation Pathway, to make sure that we are engaging around the opportunities that we have committed to. We are responding to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and harmonising and simplifying the legislation that supports our veterans so it's easier and faster for veterans to bring claims and have them processed by the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I'm grateful for the support that the government has received from all sides of the parliament in the endeavour of working through this process of reform. I'm also grateful for the support that we've received from the veterans community and veterans' families for this endeavour, and the support for the proposal we have put forward as a concept to reform the legislation.

I know members also discussed the important initiative of rolling out 10 new Veterans' and Families' Hubs across the country. Hubs will be located in areas that our census demonstrates have the highest concentration of veterans across the country. It is a very important initiative. I was very happy to join the member for Corangamite in a forum—one of many that I have been holding around the country—consulting with local veteran and family communities about their needs for these hubs, because they can't be cookie cutters. The needs of veterans are different in communities around Australia. They have different service make-ups, different age demographics and different needs for a variety of reasons. We want to make sure that the hubs in each of these locations—including in Corangamite and in Caboolture, which will be able to service the Sunshine Coast as well—are designed to service the veterans' needs in those communities. We've been working through that from late last year to the beginning of this year. We're currently receiving expressions of interest from organisations with proposals to run those hubs. We look forward to assessing those and making announcements soon about the proponents and locations for these 10 Veterans' and Families' Hubs that we are rolling out across the country to support our veterans.

I thank the member for Fisher for raising the GI bill idea. It is a concept that was borne out, as he said, of the United States during the Second World War. It's quite similar to our Second World War response of providing returned servicemen with the option of either a free university education—at a time when university education in Australia, as it still is in the United States, was a very expensive and exclusive opportunity—or access to farmland so that they could take up land, be productive and grow a business for themselves and their families. My great uncle did that. That farm is still in the family, and I'm very conscious of how that land came to be part of our family through that program. In Australia, we've seen tertiary education evolve considerably since that time. We went through a period where there was free and open access to university education. We now have a HECS regime, which still provides great accessibility to tertiary education in terms of the financial impost on those wishing to participate.

But the underlining tenet is about making sure that we encourage our veterans to engage in education so that, when they transition out of the Defence Force for whatever reason—whether it's because of injury or medical reasons or because they've made the decision, early or later in their career, that it's time for them to take on the next stage of their life in the civilian world—they are ready. There are a whole range of things that we are doing and, frankly, we need to improve upon, when it comes to the transition of our Defence Force personnel leaving defence. That's why, at the last election, we committed to, and are rolling out, our $24 million veterans employment package, part of which is about doing more work to recognise prior learning in defence to assist those who wish to go on to university study. Another part of that is about recognising the prior learning of those in defence and how that relates to vocational education opportunities—whether they can be recognised as having the equivalent certificate or diploma through vocational training—and working out what that gap is so that they can make sure they get that qualification for when they go out into the civilian world.

That's just part of our employment package, which is, of course, also about making sure that all Australians but especially employers recognise the great capability that our veterans have to offer our business community. They're great at leading teams. They're great at being members of a team. They're agile, they work well under pressure and they've got great time management. With all of these soft skills, it doesn't matter what role they go into; they are the important skills that employers are looking for, and our Defence Force personnel have them in spades.

Unfortunately, though, one of the things that we have found has not been as successful as we would have liked and hoped, across the board, has been encouraging people to go into further study by providing them with greater income assistance. That has been very helpful for people who have received it, but it hasn't resulted in more people coming through to undertake tertiary study or any full-time study as part of their rehabilitation. Certainly, some do, and that's good, but it doesn't seem to be a driver encouraging people to do that. That's why we're looking at these other modes as part of the Veterans' Employment Program. I know there are other things the member for Fisher has suggested we should look at, and all I will say to him at this point is: don't feel that those issues are falling on deaf ears. I'll leave it at that for this point.

The member for Fisher also raised the issue of medallic recognition for our veterans, an issue very important for our veterans and our serving personnel. It's why a previous Labor government established the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. I know the matter he has raised is before the tribunal. I, like many, look forward to receiving the report of that tribunal, and I thank the member for raising it.

I will turn to this bill in particular. I'm very grateful for the broad support that this has received. It's support for the Albanese Labor government's commitment to the task of saving lives and delivering a better future for our veterans community. When an Australian signs up to our Defence Force, they make a solemn vow to defend Australia, to defend our nation and to operate in support of our national interests. They do so knowing that they may find themselves in harm's way and could end up making the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. That is why, as a government and as a nation, we have a solemn obligation to look after our Defence Force personnel, veterans and families and to make sure for those who find themselves injured or needing support that it is readily available.

The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023 introduces a number of measures that will improve the way we support families and veterans, address some technical anomalies and make some minor technical improvements to the operation of veterans legislation. The amendments contained in this bill, a number of which are long overdue, demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to implementing practical measures to better support defence personnel, veterans and families. All the while, in parallel, we're undertaking a more significant venture in looking at how we can reform to simplify the overarching veterans support legislation.

Schedule 1 of this bill will require that the Repatriation Medical Authority provide an annual report for tabling in parliament. Schedule 2 amends the language contained in section 330 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and in section 58 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988; that language change is to better reflect what actual processes occur. Schedule 3 fixes incorrect references in the Veterans' Entitlements Act to a provision in the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999. Schedule 4 amends the Defence Service Homes Act 1918 to clarify the determination, revocation, replacement, variation and content of the statement of conditions made under section 38A of that act. Schedule 5 will automate the alignment of the private vehicle allowance rate in the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act to continue to align with that of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.

This bill is just one of the many ways that the Albanese Labor government is working to better support veterans. We came to government with a commitment to invest in a better future for defence personnel, veterans and families, and we've been delivering, both on our commitments in the federal budget and in responding to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This government is committed to implementing practical support measures to better support defence personnel, veterans and families. The amendments contained in this bill, while modest, demonstrate our government's ongoing commitment, while we also work on the consultation pathway for our veterans legislation reform. We want our service personnel, veterans and veteran families to know that they will get the support that they not only need but deserve. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 11:51