Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak in support of the proposed amendments to the veterans affairs legislation. I acknowledge my colleague the member for Lingiari and his years of dedication to not only improving government services for veterans, for Defence personnel, but also working in a collaborative way with the ex-service community to make sure that the people who have served us, and their families, have the best possible support. They certainly deserve it.

Although we have seen older veterans pass and the Vietnam vets are doing their very best to reach out to the younger group of veterans coming through, we will see more and more of these younger veterans seeking support. That is why this legislation is so important. It used to be three years you had to have spent in the service before you were eligible to seek support. You do not have to have served for three years to be trained up and deployed to a war zone wearing the Australian flag on your shoulder—that can happen in a shorter time. You also do not have to have served for three years to have had difficulties, mental-health problems, as a result of your service. During my service I lost some mates. It was not in a war zone. It was during training. It can happen. You can be put in positions where you see your mates seriously injured. So this legislation is great, because you only have to have spent a day in uniform to get some support. Families also deserves the best care. They have long periods where their spouse or someone in their family is deployed, and they are without the support at home of that family member. When a service member has difficulty adjusting back to civilian life sometimes their family too has difficulty working through that.

The name change from the VVCS, Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service, to the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service is a good thing. In my electorate, in Darwin and Palmerston, Vietnam veterans are about supporting all veterans, not just Vietnam veterans. That is excellent. I want to acknowledge the work of Peter Mansell, past president of the NT Vietnam Veterans Association; the current president, Bob Shewring, for his work; and the current vice president, Ray Palmer, and his wife, Pam, who themselves lost a son in Afghanistan, and they are keen to support young patrons as they transition into civilian life.

There has been a bit in the media over the last week or so about supporting members of the Defence Force and veterans as they transition into civilian life, particularly the ones who need support, who might be struggling a bit moving from this incredibly supportive organisation that the Defence Force is into civilian life. All that is very positive. I know when I transitioned into civilian life I missed Defence. You miss your mates. You miss that supportive environment. Out in the civilian world you can come across employers and other members of the community who, through no fault of their own, do not appreciate the skillset you have or the experiences you have had in life.

Having the engagement of industry, having a broader conversation in our community about the importance of helping veterans through that transition, is a good thing. We need to focus more on helping people with mental-health issues in Defence, and this legislation is important in enabling that. But the overwhelming majority of people who are moving from Defence are just 'good to go'. They are really solid operators who you can depend upon to get a job done. They are skilled up. They are disciplined. They have pride in themselves and their country. As they transition into a more normal or civilian work life there is a bit of an adjustment that goes along with it. I can only say that if you get an opportunity to employ an ex-service man or woman it is a good thing to do because having someone who is so mission focused, can get on, have a bit of independence of mind, show some initiative and get stuff done will help your organisation.

I want to quickly reflect on my electorate in the Northern Territory and the veterans that we have in our community. We have around 1,900 registered; there would be more who have not come into contact with DVA. It is probably a good thing that we encourage people to put in claims, not so they go down this track of potential dependence—although some people really need that because of the wounds or illnesses that they have—but so they can get what they are entitled to for their service. My father had some injuries from serving in Vietnam and he never claimed for them for decades and decades. He certainly said to me and my brothers who have served, 'If you've had some injury from your service, then claim it.' That is what our country is committed to; when we have people who represent us in the armed forces, they are entitled. This legislation today means that the scope of people who are eligible for that support will be extended.

Overwhelmingly, what we want to do is support veterans as they move into independent civilian life as productive members of the community with so much to offer. I think the importance of these ex-service organisations is that they allow an ongoing connection to a Defence environment whilst also moving into civilian life and getting on with things. I will talk about where we are at in the Territory with some of those organisations shortly, because we have been doing a lot of work and it is starting to bear some fruit.

In the Territory, we also have veterans working fly in fly out in the mining sector and other sectors. We want to be able to support them while they are with us in the Territory, and we hope that they stay and move to the Territory permanently. We also have grey nomads, usually Vietnam veterans or Korean veterans who are travelling around Australia. They come in, particularly when we have meetings with the Vietnam vets in Bees Creek. We had a meeting there yesterday, and they are always extremely welcome. Often veterans who are only in the Territory for a short amount of time need assistance. We have dedicated volunteers that are giving that assistance.

I spoke with Vice Admiral Ray Griggs and Brigadier Dan Fortune this morning. They are outstanding Australians. As Brigadier Fortune moves into civilian life after a distinguished career—DSC and Bar; he is an extraordinary Australian—I want to put in the Hansard that he has served our country not just in Afghanistan but in a whole suite of countries around the world in an absolutely exemplary manner. I wish him all the best with his career. It was great to chat briefly with Vice Admiral Ray Griggs as well.

Defence is doing a lot in this space. Defence really cares about its people. It is doing its best to help people when they are transitioning out of Defence and to make sure that they understand the supports that are out there when they shift out. Defence is an operationally focused organisation that is deployed throughout the world and is working in bases around Australia in support of our national interest. It is good that parliamentarians in this place have a full understanding of what Defence is actually doing for our people because it is significant, and any efforts to increase knowledge in the community about what Defence is doing, what DVA is doing and what ex-service organisations are doing are absolutely vital.

In this place, I want to acknowledge the work of Sir Angus Houston, who is working to make sure that we are plugging the gaps. We know that some veterans are falling through the cracks. We have had more young Australian veterans commit suicide in the last year than we have had Australians killed in Afghanistan over 13 years. It is a problem. As I said before, it is not common, but it is going to increase. This legislation is important in supporting what is sometimes called a tsunami, but let's hope it is not. Let's all actively work so that it is not and so that we can pre-empt difficulties that our serving men and women may have and give them the best care possible.

In the Territory, we have a great example of where veterans' communities and ESOs are at. I have spoken a couple of times in this place now about the need for the Northern Territory's deputy commissioner for veterans' affairs to be reinstated. The reason for that is that our veterans in the Territory deserve the highest level of representation. When deputy commissioners from around the country are called into Canberra to talk about issues that affect the veterans' community, the Northern Territory should be at that table. I look forward to hearing from the veterans' affairs minister on the reinstatement of the position of the deputy commissioner for veterans' affairs in the Northern Territory.

We also have an advocate that I want to recognise. Alex 'Kaz' Kaczmarek, a veteran, is currently a lone advocate working with many of our veterans in the Northern Territory. I want to acknowledge all the work that Kaz is doing. He has been a tireless worker for veterans, but we do not want to see him burn out. He had the strategic vision to get some ATAP training done with the support of some of those other advocates and volunteers—the Advocacy Training and Development Program, or ATDP. That training was recently held in Darwin, where we saw 15 members of our community, mainly from my electorate in Darwin and Palmerston, have two days of welfare training and three days of advocacy training. That training, along with peer-to-peer training and then on-the-job training as an advocate will lead those candidates to hopefully become a level 2 advocate. Not only will this take weight off Kaz's shoulders but it will mean that we can provide more intimate service to those that are going to be putting their hand up. And I think we will be having more people put their hand up in the future.

Last week I met with Soldier On. Soldier On are very keen to establish an office in Darwin. This is great news. It will not overlap with the work that other organisations like Vietnam Veterans NT, RSL, NT Veteran Centre are doing at the moment; it will complement the welfare and advocacy services being provided to veterans. Soldier On will offer assistance to those veterans who need it to get out into the workforce. We have got fantastic employers in the Northern Territory who understand the services and who are keen to employ veterans. I really welcome Soldier On's interest in establishing an office in Darwin so that they can assist some of our veterans into the civilian workforce.

We are very lucky to have so many businesses that are keen to get behind helping our men and women find meaningful employment. As I alluded to earlier, before people finish their time in Defence, they have a really important purpose and a really strong identity. What we want to do is work with them so that that purpose and that identity can be shifted into the civilian realm as they continue to serve our country.

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