Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to be here today speaking in favour of the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2017 and the recognition it provides for our veterans—people who have fought so hard for our country, who have fought to preserve our nation's security and our democracy. I thank these men and women for their service to Australia and I also thank current serving Australian Defence Force members for their service to our nation, their continuous protection of our nation.

This bill has been amended to address many facets of veterans' affairs and post-service life that until now have been overlooked, including allowing interim incapacity payments at 100 per cent of the normal earnings to be paid until superannuation entitlements and a final incapacity rate are determined. It extends access to non-liability mental health treatment to all past and current serving men and women irrespective of the length or type of service. It aligns the end date of veterans' incapacity payments with the incremental increase in the age pension age and it acknowledges the experiences of the veterans involved in British nuclear testing here in Australia.

Labor welcomes this expansion. It means these veterans can now get the treatment they deserve. Also, it acknowledges the long-lasting consequences of the nuclear tests. In addition to providing full health coverage to British Commonwealth Occupation Force veterans, the bill will also cover pastoralists and Indigenous people who lived or worked in the vicinity of the testing sites. Including Indigenous people in health coverage for the British nuclear testing in Australia is a landmark decision. In the 1950s and the 1960s, when this testing was underway, Indigenous people, as we have found out in this chamber over the last two weeks, were the invisible people. In 1956 a test site and airstrip, known as Section 400, was built at Maralinga in South Australia, the home of the Anangu people. It served to achieve Britain's nuclear power status during the Cold War.

Nuclear testing at the site greatly affected the Anangu people. Many were forcibly removed from the area and others refused to leave. Around 12,00 Anangu people were exposed to radiation at the time, suffering not just from radiological damage but psychological, social and cultural damage. The Anangu people lost their ability to deeply connect with their land, with their country, which was a huge blow to their spirituality, their sense of self, their identity, their being, their culture. And they lost their health. The radioactive fallout had serious effects such as sore eyes, rashes, vomiting, fever and early death. We have all seen the consequences of this radioactive fallout and how shattering it is physically and how appalling it is physically.

In 1985 the royal commission into British nuclear testing in Australia showed little concern about the safety of the Indigenous people living off the land around these testing sites. Fortunately, in many ways, the issues have been addressed in terms of Indigenous justice since settlement. We still have a long way to go in terms of closing the gap; and this bill in some way helps to close the gap on this appalling issue, this tragic issue, which in many ways is a blight on Australia's history in terms of the treatment of the Indigenous community in this area.

I cannot think of a better time than Reconciliation Week for this bill to be debated. Last week, we had the anniversaries of the Mabo decision and the 1967 referendum. The issue at stake here is reconciliation and an acknowledgement that the Anangu people suffered. In a small way, this bill acknowledges the anguish that the Anangu people faced when they were forced to live with the health consequences of the British nuclear testing in Australia. The bill addresses coverage for those people, who at that time were written out of history, were invisible in history, and whose health needs and needs in general were ignored for so long. The treatments available will include treatment for all conditions, not just malignant neoplasia, and its expansion has been welcomed by the veterans of the British nuclear testing and British Commonwealth Occupation Force. I am sure it will be welcomed by the Anangu people and Indigenous communities right around Australia who suffered during the testing.

We need to ensure this kind of history never, ever repeats itself. As we have heard from my colleague beforehand, the land at Maralinga is still contaminated, despite the government's best efforts to cleanse it, clean it and rehabilitated it. That has happened three times—not once, not twice, but three times. That was in 1967, 2000 and 2009. The contamination of land is debilitating for all the people who live around the area: for the farmers, it affects their ability to make money and to feed their families; for the families, it creates uncertainty about whether kids are safe playing in the backyard; and for the Indigenous communities, the Anangu people who live in that area, it decimates their whole culture and their connection to land—that ability to connect land with their culture and to connect with their country.

Before a close, I just want to acknowledge the service, hard work, tenacity and tireless efforts of the National Boer War Memorial Association. Yesterday, after decades of fundraising, the National Boer War Memorial was finally dedicated. It was a wonderful ceremony. I attended it with the shadow assistant minister for veterans affairs. I just want to, for the record, say the names of who contributed so much after so long. This has been a tireless effort and a great exercise in tenacity. It is a great showcase of tenacity.

I acknowledge Colonel John Haynes, Lieutenant Colonel Ron McElwaine, Lieutenant Colonel Tony Larnach-Jones, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Guild, Major General Iain Spence, Bill Woolmore, Lieutenant Colonel David Deasey, Donna Hampton, Colonel Bob Guest, Chris Dawson, Lani Davis, George Bazochka, Major John Neenan, Lieutenant Colonel John Howells, Peter Wilmot, Monty Smith, David Thomas, Nigel Webster and all of the fantastic Boer War Memorial Association people here in the ACT who I have become very close to over the course of the last few years. I acknowledge Paul Hanlon, Reg Watson, the fund committee that was involved in this and everyone who is involved in making this National Boer War Memorial a reality after so much time and after so many decades. Thank you, congratulations. It is a major contribution to the memorialisation of those who served and died in the Boer War. It is a beautiful addition to Anzac Parade. It was an honour to be there at the dedication with my colleague, the shadow minister for veterans affairs, yesterday and it has been absolute showcase of tireless dedication and tenacity. Congratulations to all involved.

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