Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the measures contained in the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-Centric Reforms No. 2) Bill. These measures are designed to improve outcomes for those who have proudly served our country, and their loved ones, who have supported them in their service, and to whom we all owe a debt as a nation. The bill builds on the great work that's been done by our shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the member for Kingston, and particularly on the work she has done on the veterans' employment policy, which she was, in part, instrumental in developing just recently. This is Labor's veterans' employment policy. It's a policy that has been developed in close consultation with the veterans' community.

Again, I commend the shadow minister for the work she's done in developing this policy, because it does meet a great need in the market—a significant need—because if the national unemployment rate was 30 per cent it would be a scandal. Yet that's the situation for our veterans. For veterans who leave for non-medical reasons, the unemployment rate is still double the national rate, at 11.2 per cent. Of those who are successful in finding employment, many will find themselves in a job that's beneath their capability and will be earning 30 per cent less than they did as a member of the ADF. The change proposed in schedule 1 addresses these alarming statistics. Fabulous work has been done by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs. This bill addresses some of the issues that are outstanding in the community, particularly with a range of veterans issues, in terms of mental health and others.

Earlier this year, in March, I joined the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the shadow minister for defence personnel and the shadow assistant minister for defence industry and support to launch Labor's $121 million comprehensive veterans employment policy. It is a very comprehensive document and I encourage all Australians to take the time to have a look at it. Should Labor be elected at the next election, this policy will be very much front of mind for our, hopefully, Minister for Veterans' Affairs as we address the shocking statistic that we have a national unemployment rate of 30 per cent.

Our veterans, who have served our country so well, are returning to the community. They're returning, often from overseas and from conflict or challenging environments, and they're faced with this shocking unemployment rate. There is the fact that they're in jobs that are beneath their capability and also the fact that they're earning 30 per cent less than they did as a member of the ADF. It's simply unacceptable.

There are a number of schedules in this bill that I want to focus on today. First up is schedule 1. We're pleased to see the change for former members of the ADF proposed in schedule 1. The change proposes incapacity payments for former members of the ADF at 100 per cent of their normal weekly earnings, where they are studying full-time time as part of their approved DVA rehabilitation plan. This is an improvement, because the current arrangements step down to 75 per cent or higher, depending on weekly hours worked for normal earnings. This change will provide financial security to veterans and their families while they're studying. It means that they can focus on their study without worrying about financial matters. Given the fact that these proud men and women have served our nation, it's the least we can do.

I also want to speak about schedule 4, the Long Tan Bursary. I am the daughter-in-law of a late Vietnam veteran, and so I'm pleased to see the proposal in schedule 4 to extend the eligibility of the Long Tan Bursary, which is a $12,000 scholarship over three years to help with post-secondary-school education and training for the grandchildren of Vietnam veterans. This means that more young people will be able to access support to help continue with their study.

There's been a lot of discussion about the intergenerational stress that has come from the Vietnam War. As I said, I am the daughter-in-law of a late Vietnam veteran. My late mother-in-law always said that she got a different man back from the one that was sent to the war. This has an impact not just in terms of the partner of those who served but also on the children of those served, and that impact can be felt throughout the generations. I think that the fact that this bursary will continue throughout the generations is a welcome acknowledgement of the contribution that families have made, not just for the first generation of children of Vietnam vets or for the partners of Vietnam veterans but also for the grandchildren. The impact of war can be felt from one generation to another and I think that this bursary, being open to those grandchildren, is an acknowledgement of that—that the tragedy of war can continue throughout the decades and throughout the generations.

Today is the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Second Anglo-Boer War. At the time, Australia was six self-governing Crown colonies in the last stages of forming a federation. It was a time when Australians were serving alongside British, Canadians and New Zealanders as part of an imperial force which included the first servicewomen to fight overseas. I know that in terms of memorialising the Boer War, there are those who have been involved and have fought the fight for a very long time to get an acknowledgement of the contribution Australians made to that war. So I wanted to mention the fact that today is that significant anniversary of the Boer War and to acknowledge the contribution that was made by veterans.

Yes, we were not a nation as such, but we sent people from our six colonies. We sent thousands—23,000 Australians served in the Boer War—to a fight often forgotten, with 520 losing their lives and 1,400 sustaining serious injury. I think people tend to forget that contribution that we made, which is why I wanted to acknowledge today's date—a significant date for those who are involved in the memorialisation of the Boer War. On Sunday I attended a commemoration ceremony that is held every year by the National Boer War Association and others in the Canberra community down at St John's Reid. It's a beautiful ceremony. I usually speak at the event. The commemoration honours and continues to remember our commitment and our service and the service of those 23,000 Australians. It acknowledges those who made the ultimate sacrifice and also those 1,400 who sustained serious injury. It continues to remember those Australian and it remembers those brave men and women. What I find most touching about the service is it remembers two Canberrans, one of whom is buried at St John's in Reid and another who is memorialised in a plaque.

I just want to go back to the Boer War, given the significance of today in terms of the Boer War commemoration. As I said, this has been a war where many who have tried to memorialise it have been derided for doing that because it was before Australia actually became a nation and we were federated. The thing is that even though we weren't a nation, as such, it was noted by British commanders that Australians significantly valued for their horsemanship, their bush skills and their initiative. This formed a special type of Australian mounted infantry, which was to become the Australian Light Horse of the First World War. It was also the first time Australians and New Zealanders fought together, as we have our nations continued to do to this day.

At this event on Sunday, which as I said is one that I attend each year, we remembered those 23,000 Australians, those 520 who lost their lives and those 1,400 who sustained serious injury. We remembered the soldiers. Sixty of those who served in the Boer War were Australian women, including Sister Frances Emma 'Fanny' Hines, who was the first Australian woman to have lost her life in overseas service. She was said to have died of pneumonia at Bulawayo in August 1900, but eventually it was determined that her death was as a result of exhaustion.

A memorial inside St John's in Reid acknowledges William Bradshaw Galliard Smith, who was born in Canberra and died in the Battle of Bakenlaagte as a member of the 2nd Scottish Horse. He was the son of the Reverend Pierce Galliard Smith. Outside the church is the grave of Private William Frederick Young, who served with the 1st Regiment NSW Mounted Rifles. While serving, he contracted enteric fever and died as a result of the illness in Sydney on 4 October 1900. He, too, was bon in Canberra, the son and grandson of a prominent pioneer family. Last Sunday, we acknowledged the service of William Smith, and we also acknowledged and placed a wreath on the grave of Private Young.

I think that a lot of Australians don't consider Canberra to be a very new city. We are in fact more than 100 years old, in terms of the national capital and the naming of that. Canberra was a farming community and a very prosperous farming community, from what I can gather, before the whole nation's capital notion was brought about. It was a community that made its contribution to every war, including the Boer War.

Just in closing, I have spoken about the Boer War and spoken about the Vietnam War and honoured those veterans who served in both of those wars; but I do want to talk about a memorial and a remembrance that has captured my heart in many ways and that I encourage Australians to support. Pozieres is a small village in the Somme valley in France, and it was the scene of bitter and costly fighting for the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions in mid-1916. The village was captured initially by the 1st Division on 23 July 1916, and the division clung to its gains despite almost continuous artillery fire and repeated German counterattacks, but it suffered heavily—very, very heavily. By the time it was relieved on 27 July, it had suffered 5,285 casualties. The 2nd Division took over from the 1st and mounted two further attacks. The first, on 29 July, was a costly failure. The second, on 2 August, resulted in the seizure of further German positions beyond the village. Again the Australians suffered heavily from bombardments, and they were relieved on 6 August having suffered 6,848 casualties. The 4th Division was next in line at Pozieres, and it too endured a massive artillery bombardment and defeated a German counterattack on 7 August. This was the last attempt by the Germans to retake Pozieres.

Given the number of Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice at Pozieres—the largest number of Australian casualties ever in a single day, I understand—I am disappointed that there is no proper memorial, in my view, at Pozieres. There's the windmill there, and when I was last there two years ago there was also a memorial to the animals that had been killed in war. But given the sacrifice of so many lives in such a hideous battle—and it was a hideous battle—I do believe that we need to better memorialise those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice, which is why I've been behind an initiative that's been driven with tireless commitment by Barry Gracey and Yvonne Gracey-Hall, who have been acknowledged for their service to that part of the world by the French with the Legion of Honour. They have got a scheme going to raise funds for a Pozieres Memorial Park under the Pozieres Remembered scheme. So I encourage Australians: if you do want to acknowledge the significant sacrifice that was made at Pozieres by all those thousands of Australians under horrendous conditions, please support Pozieres Remembered.

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