Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to talk about some of the outstanding Albanese Labor government issues that are supporting local defence personnel and veterans in my community, and honouring their service. At the outset, the Albanese government is committed to providing the best possible care and support for our defence personnel veterans and their families, as well as recognising the service and sacrifice of our ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen. To that end, I was very proud to announce on 12 March, with the Minister for Veterans Affairs and defence personnel, that a $5.445 million grant was provided to RSL Queensland to lead the establishment of a new veterans and families hub in Ipswich in my electorate. The hub will be run in collaboration with veterans support organisation Mates4Mates and veterans health provider GO2 Health.

This delivers on an election commitment of mine to establish an Ipswich veterans and family hub where services are tailored to the specific needs of the local defence personnel, veterans and their families—something that the local veterans community and I have advocated for, for several years, given Ipswich is a garrison town that's home to the largest Air Force base in the country in RAAF Base Amberley. The region has one of the largest defence and veteran populations in the country, with more than more than 10,000 veterans and their families calling Ipswich and its surrounds home. What's more, I know RSL Queensland and Mates4Mates have a proven track record in supporting veterans and families across the country, and in the development and management of veterans hubs, having worked with them. I visited a number of them when I was a shadow minister. The services offered at the Ipswich hub will include: a strong focus on medical interventions, thanks to the partnership with GO2 Health; physical and mental health rehabilitation, supported by Mates4Mates; and advocacy and social and emotional wellbeing support, facilitated by RSL Queensland.

This is part of the government's $46.7 million veterans and families hub network and election commitment to establish 10 new veterans and families hubs across the country. I am so pleased to see these centres being rolled out now that we are in government, especially in my electorate, and I look forward to seeing the difference they will make in people's lives.

While the minister and I were there at the Ipswich Memorial Gardens to announce the veterans hub grant, we took time to inspect the Ipswich RSL sub-branch's new memorial there. The sub-branch has installed nine new plinths in the memorial gardens to honour a range of veterans groups and conflicts such as Indigenous servicemen and servicewomen, and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The project was funded with a $131,619 Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grant to the sub-branch last year. These grants help to recognise the service and sacrifice of those who've served our nation during wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Ipswich has a proud history of military service, and this innovative and inclusive memorial will help our local community commemorate those from the region who've given so much for our nation.

Finally, in November last year, I was delighted to announce, with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, that the Ipswich based Wounded Heroes Australia had received $1.1 million in funding, through the $17 million Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program, to improve veterans and family services supports and coordination where they are needed most. The grant will be used to upgrade the head office of their veterans centre in Bundamba in my electorate of Blair to provide additional private spaces for people to access services and supports, as well as to purchase a vehicle to assist with transporting veterans. The Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program was established to complement and build upon the government's existing Veterans' and Families' Hubs program, in support of the large-scale projects that can be rolled out quickly to deliver practical services on the ground in areas with large veteran communities like my own.

The great thing about Wounded Heroes is that it fills a gap in the veteran service and support space, providing rapid crisis assistance for veterans and their families who are doing it tough, with things like financial assistance, food relief and emergency accommodation. It was terrific to take the minister on a tour of their drop-in centre, in June last year, to see firsthand the outstanding work that CEO Martin Shaw and his dedicated staff and volunteers do on the frontline, as well as their contribution to the wider community. Speaker, I think you are the actual patron, and congratulations for that.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which Labor called for in opposition, made clear that there is no time to waste when it comes to improving services and supports for the veteran community. What these programs and grants show is that the Albanese Labor government is responding to this. We're not wasting a single day. We're delivering the kind of tailored services on the ground that veterans and their families need and deserve.