Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Democrats support the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Statements of Principles and Other Measures) Bill 2006 as well. It makes some changes that are welcome. One would have to raise the question of why these measures were not included when the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act was put together. There was a lot of consultation done at the time and there was a working party involved in the drafting of that act. Issues such as ensuring that the special rate disability pension continued after age 65 and that those incapacitated during initial training received payments at least equal to those of someone who had completed training were discussed, as I understand it, during the original drafting of the MRCA by the working party. These sorts of things should have been included at the time.

There are still anomalies that need to be fixed. The Democrats, of course, always seek to be constructive, and every time positive moves are being made we are prepared to say so. We acknowledge the actions contained within this legislation but, nonetheless, repeat our concerns that there are other anomalies that still need to be addressed. I would also note that, as I understand it, the drafting working party for the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act were promised a follow-up forum after the act had been implemented and in place for 18 months or so. I do not believe there has been any proper meeting of that working party to see how things have progressed and to examine any ongoing anomalies. I think that those ESOs who were involved in the initial drafting should be involved in formal, public and open reviews of the MRCA. I think there are always opportunities for ongoing improvements.

I have stated a number of times in this chamber that, whatever our political persuasion or views about how our armed forces should be used in particular conflicts and activities, we all have a responsibility to ensure that those who join the defence forces are properly looked after. Certainly that does happen in some cases, but there are still far too many cases where it does not happen and those who run into difficulties have to spend a lot of their time fighting to get proper assistance when they should be getting that assistance straight up. There is no doubt that with the inadequacies in the assistance provided, particularly to injured service personnel—whether they are veterans of military combat or service personnel who are injured in the course of their duties in other ways—every time we fail one of those people and every time one of them feels like they have been left on the scrap heap, we are not only committing a great injustice and disservice to that person and their family but also making it much harder for us to meet our recruitment and retention targets and needs for the armed forces. Those sorts of things are not in the best interests of the entire community, let alone those individuals and families who are directly affected.

Almost every time I make any public commentary on this sort of matter I receive a message from at least one and quite often a number of former defence personnel with the story of their dissatisfaction with the treatment they got and their feeling of being cast aside. Governments were quite happy to give them parades, medals and all of the things that look nice on the television, but when it came to actually helping them out in a time of need or to rebuild the remainder of their lives, the assistance that needed to be provided was not there. That is not me saying that; that is what I continually hear from injured ex-service personnel. That is the way they are feeling—that they are being cast aside and that their families are being left to carry the burden on their own. Not only is that an injustice for them but it is a clear impediment to us having any hope of meeting recruitment and retention targets, because some of those families spend a lot of energy going around telling other people: ‘The last thing you want to do is join the ADF because this is the way my son or daughter was treated.’ That is why it is in our own interest—let alone in the interest of doing the right thing—to continually look for ways to lift our game. This legislation is a small step forward. On behalf of the Democrats, I will continue to keep the pressure on whoever is in government so that they perform better in this regard.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a third time.