Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak in the parliament today and I put on the record as the federal member for Ryan that I do support this motion by my colleague Mr Katter, the member for Kennedy, on the Australian Defence Medal. I also thank my colleague in the parliament the member for New England, Mr Windsor, for his very elegant representation of Mr Katter, who is not able to be here in the parliament today because of the cyclone that has devastated parts of Queensland and of course his own electorate. I say again on the record that I do support the thrust of this motion:

… that the primary qualifying criteria for the Australian Defence Medal specify two years effective service, instead of six years, in line with the recommendation of the Returned and Services League of Australia.

I have had the opportunity of speaking to various senior members of the RSL sub-branches in the Ryan electorate and to many returned veterans who are not themselves members of RSL sub-branches, and the overwhelming view is that they are very supportive of this criterion being reduced from six years to two years.

I also want to call upon the Howard government to expedite and finalise the criterion, because this is an important issue to many of our fellow Australians who fall within the ambit of this motion. It is certainly very important to a good number of my constituents in the Ryan electorate. Those who are eligible want to know that they are eligible, and I think they deserve our fullest support and cooperation in the finalisation of this policy. No veteran should be forgotten by this country and no serving personnel of the Australian Defence Force should be forgotten either.

Some 900,000 new medal entitlements have been created since the Howard government was elected in 1996, through the introduction of 11 new medals. The Howard government can stand very tall and be very proud of its record on recognising the service of our fighting men and women. We have troops around the world. We are particularly active in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and our troops are doing good work—important work. As the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr Tony Blair, said today in his historic address to this parliament, Australian and British forces together are doing work that is important for the protection of the values and the freedoms that both countries hold very dear.

As my colleagues have said, in June 2004 the government announced the establishment of the Australian Defence Medal for six years service since World War II in either the regular or the reserve arm of the Australian Defence Force. This medal recognises the significant commitment and contribution that our service men and women have made, whether they have served our country on overseas operations or remained in Australia in a very supportive role in uniform. The medal may be awarded posthumously to those who died in service and may also be awarded to those who were permanently injured and therefore unable to reach the prescribed qualifying period.

At the time this medal of recognition was announced in 2004, it was estimated some 400,000 personnel would be eligible for it. I support very much the comment of the RSL National President, Major-General Bill Crews, in June 2004 when he very strongly congratulated the government for ‘taking this most significant step in advancing personal recognition of the efforts of our defence forces’. He also said:

While the League had suggested that the minimum period for eligibility be two years, service for a period of six years is appropriate, recognising the need for servicemen and women to complete what can be prolonged periods of training to be operationally deployable. Further, it maintains the integrity of the awards system …

Six years is not something that is absolutely inappropriate; these are questions of judgment. But I think, given that the overwhelming view of those who are eligible for this medal is that the qualifying service criterion should be two years and given the important recognition by this parliament that it should be very special to receive this medal, I do personally support the criterion being reduced from six years to two years.

As I said, many in my constituency of Ryan are very supportive of this position. They have asked me to speak on their behalf, and as the federal member for Ryan I do so very strongly. I put on the record again my call on the government and on the new minister to expedite this matter. It is quite inappropriate that something like this should take two years, and I am happy to be quoted on that as a member of the party in government. (Time expired)

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