Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday, here in Parliament House, we hosted an evening of poetry, art, spoken word and music by Australian veterans. I want to thank the Australian National Veterans Art Museum for sponsoring the event. I also want to thank the Speaker, who came along and announced that we were going to have more art by veterans in our Parliament House art collection. I want to thank the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, for playing the keys as part of the musical set on the night. I thank the Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Keogh, and also the Assistant Minister for Defence and Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite, for coming along. I also thank Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, for singing as part of the band.

The event was an important signal that our nearly 600,000-strong veteran community is not defined by the mental or physical scars of their service but by the strength of their skills and by the strength of their character that was shaped through their service. Veterans are not victims—though it's a difficult transition of civilian life, for many. They are the active agents of that transition that does enrich our nation. Many veterans are creatives. Using art to process and transcend their experience, and thus to heal, is incredibly important.