Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As servants to the people of Queensland and Australia, we applaud this bill and will support it. It's very important to note that veterans are self-selected as people who love our country, are selfless and have initiative. This is a wonderful resource we have, and yet we've destroyed that, in many cases. One only has to go to an Anzac Day ceremony, or talk with veterans, as we go about our business of listening around the country, to find in veterans a love of our country, and a commitment to our country and to serving our country. These people have a lot of talent, and need to have the ability to offer that. However, they face enormous pressure, stress and hurt that can cripple—and, indeed, some have been crippled—and they can be crippled in more ways than just physically. The Romans knew that, because they talked about returning centurions no longer being the same as they were before they left.

One Nation honours that service, that dedication and that valour. It is really remarkable what these people do for our country. That's why we've taken up the vets' cause for several years now, not only for individuals but also for vets as a group. We have many individuals who we've assisted in a variety of ways, whether it be talking about PTSD—helping them with support for PTSD—physical ailments, treatment with the Department of Veterans' Affairs or simply understanding their issues. It is important for us to recognise, symbolically, what these people have done, and that symbolic recognition is in this bill. We applaud the government for that. And it is deserved; it is highly deserved.

Secondly, we compliment the government for the beneficial interpretation in making decisions on the health and welfare of vets. That's welcome, and it's about time. But that doesn't guarantee that they will be supported or get the treatment they need. What we need to ensure is that the Department of Veterans' Affairs is no longer callous or sloppy or continuing to deny vets the care they deserve. We've heard accusations of that and we've seen instances of it. So we hope that this is foreshadowing a change in the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

The DVA card, or the Department of Veterans' Affairs card, will make it easier to identify a vet as a veteran, and that's necessary. The overarching statements of principle we support. I also want to take this opportunity, though, to commend the many volunteers who have formed support and advisory groups for our veterans. However, the formation of these very groups—and they're called microservice groups—shows that the Department of Veterans' Affairs is not currently meeting veterans' needs. So we hope that the bill is more than just words, an ID card and a pin number. We hope the Department of Veterans' Affairs makes real changes.

Someone said a few years ago—I can't remember the source: 'We send them, we bend them, but we don't mend them.' We hope that now we can say that we mend them. Our vets deserve to be appreciated and honoured, and above all our vets deserve to be cared for. We support this bill and commend the government for it.