Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, Senator Evans. Documents released to the Western Australian newspaper under freedom of information requests reveal that the government's publicly stated figure of over 180 wounded Australians in Afghanistan tells only a fraction of the story. More than 920 wounded and injured Australian soldiers have received compen­sation for amputated limbs, severe burns, bullets still lodged in flesh and major depression. Will the government commit to revealing on an ongoing basis—not relying on FOI requests—the actual numbers of wounded and injured troops returning from Afghanistan?