Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 3 standing in my name for today.

Leave granted.

I amend the motion in the terms circulated in the chamber and move the motion as amended:

That—

(a) the Senate notes:

(i) the number of veterans who have served overseas in war and warlike circumstances since 1999 is some 50,000 over 75,000 deployments which is greater than the number of Australian veterans who served in Vietnam—60,000 between 1962 and 1972,

(ii) some reports from ex-service organisations and former Australian Defence Force (ADF) members suggest that the number of veterans in our community who have committed suicide since 1999 may be more than 250 and is growing,

(iii) the Turnbull Government must now take steps to acknowledge this crisis among so many ADF veterans, and undertake the necessary research so as to measure the scale of the suicide rate,

(iv) some ex-service organisations and former ADF members believe that the complexity of Australia's military compensation schemes, together with administrative failures and slow decision-making by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), is a contributing factor to imposing financial hardship, stress on families, delays in medical treatment and even homelessness and suicide,

(v) Australian Military Compensation Arrangements must be fair and provide former members of the Defence Force and their families who suffer a service injury or disease with a strong system of compensation and other benefits,

(vi) media reports and discussions with individual veterans, along with feedback from ex-service organisations, have revealed a number of serious issues with the administration, governance and processes of the DVA, and

(vii) that the last comprehensive government review of the DVA was over five years ago and is now outdated and the Turnbull Government must commit to undertaking a thorough review of the DVA, addressing the issues raised above; and

(b) that the above matters be referred to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 23 August 2016, with particular reference to:

(i) the reasons why Australian veterans are committing suicide at such high rates,

(ii) previous reviews of military compensation arrangements and their failings,

(iii) Repatriation Medical Authority’s Statements of Principles, claims administration time limits, claims for detriment caused by defective administration, authorised medical treatment, level of compensation payments, including defence abuse, as contained in all military compensation arrangements,

(iv) the performance of DVA, and

(v) any other related matters.

Question negatived.

I request leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask for the support of all senators for this motion, which would bring about a Senate investigation which would examine why our young veterans are killing themselves in record numbers. I ask that government senators stop the political party games and act in the national interest, act in the best interests of our veterans and their families, and join with me, fellow crossbenchers and Labor members to support this motion. In advance, I thank all members who support this motion and particularly the staff of shadow veterans' affairs minister David Feeney. Today, too many of the 50,000 Australian veterans who have served overseas in war and warlike circumstances since 1999 have killed themselves while under the care of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and we need to quickly find out why and then put in place solutions to try to stop or lessen those deaths.