Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great disappointment that I update the House that HMAS Manoora veterans have been told by a government department not to wear their Australian Active Service Medals. These veterans rapidly deployed from Darwin to Dili in 2000 as part of INTERFET at a time when the AASM was awarded to soldiers, sailors and aviators. It is quite concerning that now, 24 years later, the government department has written to these veterans and told them that they are not to wear the AASM, that they are not to wear the Returned from Active Service Badge and that the decision on whether they can keep their medals is sitting with the minister.

This is disgraceful. I have written to the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and for Defence Personnel, asking why this has occurred, asking for an immediate brief and asking for both of those ministers to walk into this chamber and update the Australian people and veterans as to whether these veterans who have served their nation proudly can keep their medals.

We are leading into Anzac Day and the stresses that this has. It is a time when you reflect on your service and when you reflect on your mates—those who have succumbed to their war within or those who have been killed in action—and we have veterans being told not to wear their medals. We've got young men and women who have served our nation proudly, whether it was in East Timor, Afghanistan or Iraq, thinking: 'Will I be told in 10 years time I can't wear my medals? Will I be told by the government that my service now is lower than what it was 24 years ago?' I think it is quite disgraceful.

On one side you have a government, a defence minister and a minister for veterans' affairs saying, 'Thank you for your service.' And on the other hand they are saying, 'Give us back these medals.' It is not good enough. It is not good enough that it has been sitting on the desk of the minister for some time with no action. We have these veterans at home trying to explain this to their loved ones and trying to explain this to their families.

This has implications for entitlements under the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Under the VEA you need operational service, which means you need the AASM, or you will be treated differently. How does that work? We have a minister who is asleep at the wheel. We have a defence minister who is part time and we have a veterans' affairs minister who is not even sitting in cabinet. It is disgraceful. These ministers have known about this. They have been briefed on this, but they haven't acted. Our Australian Defence Force, our veterans, deserve so much better. They deserve a government that puts them first. They deserve a government that is not stripping them of their medals.

INTERFET, 2000—Peter Cosgrove, the former Governor-General, led this mission into East Timor. We have sailors that have served so proudly, done this nation proud, who have received a letter saying: 'You are not to wear your AASM or the Returned from Active Service Badge until the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and for Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh, and the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, either say you're allowed to or say they are taking them off you.' That to me is a slap in the face and a kick in the guts not just to every man and woman who has put on the uniform and served this nation but to every veteran and to every Australian. Our brave soldiers, our veterans, have paved the way for the freedoms that we enjoy today. And 24 years later—10 years since they were awarded this medal—to be told, 'You may not be able to keep it. Thank you for your service, but give us back our medals' is disgraceful and disgusting.

The Minister for Defence and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs should march into this place today, or tomorrow, or at any stage that they see fit, and explain to the Australian people and to veterans why this is occurring. Our point of view is you don't strip medals from people; you don't take this award that was earned by these veterans 24 years ago. This is disgraceful, and these ministers need to be held accountable.