Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

In the same week that the Skype scandal broke around the Australian Defence Force Academy, next door, at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, a cadet hanged himself. He had asked for help from his leadership and he was turned away. The public never heard a damn thing about it. All the cadets at the Royal Military College at the time were called together and told by the commanding officer not to discuss their mate's suicide. The commanding officer was worried it would add to the media storm on the scandal that was brewing outside. In issuing the order to go silent, the commanding officer at the time, Lieutenant Colonel Jason Hedges—and you know who you are—didn't even have the respect or the care to correctly remember the deceased cadet's name. That's how strong the culture of cover-up is that our Defence faces. It goes right to the top of our brass. It is right in the school of our officers. It's killing people, and the public don't hear a damn thing about it.

I'm ending the silence and I'll continue to do that. I'm speaking up today on behalf of the people who have reportedly been told to shut up about the toxic culture at the very top of the Australian Defence Force. I'm going to tell you what our cadets are going through. The cadets who've been through the Military College at Duntroon know better than anyone else what the culture is like. They have been through hell time and time again. They've seen their mates being bullied and harassed by their own superiors—those who are supposed to be at the very upper echelon. They got dodgy health care that too often left them worse off than when they first visited the doctor on base, and every time they tried to speak up they got shot down by the very people who were supposed to be looking after them: the top dogs of the officers. They were called malingerers and told to get on with it.

Here's an example. On 12 March 2011, most of the cadets at the Royal Military College were off site on field exercises. The only ones left on base were in rehab for service related injuries. The wounded cadets were sitting in their rooms trying to recover when they heard the voice of their regimental sergeant major yelling that there was a fire in the library. Despite their injuries, they rushed out to fight the flames. One of the cadets—we'll call him Lewis—was recovering from knee surgery. Ignoring his pain, he ran into the library to put out the flames, side by side at the time with the regimental sergeant major. Other injured cadets were grabbing fire extinguishers from around the base and running them back to Lewis and the regimental sergeant major, who were fighting the blaze. They were running on reconstructed knees, carrying equipment on reconstructed shoulders and lifting equipment with broken hands, many re-injuring themselves in the process. One cadet hurt himself so badly that, as a result, he was ultimately discharged from the Australian Defence Force.

After the fire, the cadets were required to write statements about what had happened. They tried to tell the truth, as they had always been taught to do, which was that Lewis, their regimental sergeant major and the other wounded cadets had bravely worked to put out the fire. But the senior officers—it gets great now—told them what they had to put in their statements. The cadets' written versions of events were returned to them for revision over and over again by their direct chain of command. They were given verbal warnings to include some details and leave others out. Their commanding officers forced them to paint a picture that falsely glorified the actions of their superiors and downplayed their own. One commanding officer had only entered the burning building to tell the regimental sergeant major and Lewis that the fire brigade had arrived. But, despite doing next to nothing, he used the biased statements to claim responsibility for the actions of his subordinates. He took credit for things that he never did. That man got a commendation for brave conduct that he did not deserve.

Lewis, on the other hand, was driven out of the military within weeks. I hope you're listening to this, Chief of the Defence Force, because there's more to come, and I've got the evidence. Let me tell you about Lewis. This is his story, and it's like so many others. He entered the Royal Military College at Duntroon as a bright, enthusiastic, friendly kid. He was excited to be able to join the Army and he was cut down on day one. On the first day, he was told by the senior officer of his company that he didn't belong there. His senior officer told him that he'd do everything in his power to stop him from graduating. This is what we do to our kids—our cadets. He was told directly, around others, that his senior officer didn't like him. He was injured and he needed knee surgery, but his senior officer spread rumours that he was making it up, that he was lazy, and that he was only going to rehabilitation to spend more time with his boyfriend. I don't know how the senior officer finds that amusing. This is the sort of crap that's going on. It was bullying, plain and simple, to the point of wearing T-shirts around, giving this young boy a hard time.

This is the truth of the matter and it came from the very top. It comes from the very top of the leadership. It comes from our military colleges, the top brass, and nothing's been done about it. Nothing was done about it then, and still nothing has been corrected. Eventually Lewis was forced out illegally and abusively. He left the Royal Military College as a shell of his former self. Lewis's story is the same as that of so many other cadets. The bullying and intimidation by senior officers is one of the reasons why one veteran a week takes their own life. It breaks people's minds and their bodies. When they try to speak out, the bullying only gets worse. So many of the cadets at RMC had the same problems as Lewis and continue to have the same problems. They all suffered from the lack of care and respect from those at the top.

Here's another example: the medical care that they had to put up with. The Royal Military College at the time had only one doctor, and I'm going to name you today, Barbara. Your name is Dr Barbara Thompson. Are you listening to me, AHPRA? You had better be investigating this by breakfast in the morning. She was the only doctor they were allowed to see. Any review of Dr Thompson's treating history whilst at RMC would show a slow-moving train wreck of neglect and carelessness. She did enormous damage to so many of those cadets at RMC. Their senior officers knew about it and ignored it. They still continue to ignore it. She lied, she bullied, she coerced and she covered up. In one case, Dr Thompson used a cadet's personal records to track down his parents online, find out what their jobs were and pressure him to voluntarily discharge because she thought they were well enough off to pay for him to go to uni, and therefore he wouldn't get compensation either. She repeatedly refused staff cadets access to their own medical documents which they needed to substantiate their Department of Veterans' Affairs claims. One of the cadets who helped fight the fire in 2011 entered Dr Thompson's medical care with a single broken bone in his master hand. Today, after 12 surgeries, his wrist and hand are completely fused. He has had five bones removed. He has permanent nerve damage and a degenerative condition. Another cadet presented with a badly injured hip. You've got two hips. Dr Thompson ordered an X-ray of the wrong one. She even wrote in his medical records that the specialist who recommended surgery, which she tried to deny, was doing so because he wanted a new boat for Christmas.

The whole command structure knew this was going on. It took multiple cadets going over the heads of their senior officers at the Royal Military College to finally provoke an investigation into Dr Thompson's conduct. Just as she was finally going to be investigated, she disappeared. How about that? Defence covering something else up! In 2011, her office was cleared out, and it appears that no investigation has ever been formally conducted. We're coming now, girlfriend, I can tell you. Some of those Army medical records of cadets under her care have completely disappeared too, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. There are bad doctors out there. It's not remarkable that we'd have one here. What's remarkable is that, when this was raised repeatedly, nobody did anything. None of those senior officers did a damn thing, and they're supposed to be full of leadership. I have documented proof that Defence was made aware of the complaints against Dr Thompson in 2010 and 2011. They ignored it. Instructors knew; they ignored it. That is negligence. That is plain as day a breach of Defence's duty of care. This is what's going on. Defence is failing its recruits. They're losing our good kids.

Lewis, an injured cadet, who ran into a fire on a busted knee and fought to save his base was bullied and abused until he had to leave. He should have been decorated for his actions on the day of the fire. Instead, he was broken by his senior officers. He was told he was useless, and his supervisors stole the credit for his bravery. He is still suffering to this day. He experiences daily panic attacks, he barely leaves the house, his family life has fallen to pieces and he is in constant chronic pain. He has attempted suicide multiple times, and he's not the only one out of this group of boys; so far, I have 13 of them on my list. You know that you're under investigation and I know that you're under investigation, and I know that the Minister for Defence knows about this too. She'll be questioned tomorrow.

Within that same group of RMC cadets there have been three suicide attempts since Anzac Day and there have been many more before that. One of these cadets was in the emergency department this week after self-harming. That's the situation that they're in. Everything I've said tonight I've said because I can prove it: notes, records, documents—you name it. I've seen the proof and I have the proof. Tonight is just the tip of the iceberg. What's more, I know that the ADF has seen it too. More people know about this than have come forward so far, so if you are one of those boys then please come to my office. I know of 13 of you and I know that there are many more to come. Don't let them get away with this; come to my office.

Senate adjourned at 22 : 30