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

I would like to thank the Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel for his statement in the House yesterday and congratulate him on his re-election and reappointment into the role, a very special role. I also want to thank the minister for our recent meeting in relation to the wellbeing centre for Darwin and Palmerston and the rural areas of the Top End. I am appreciative of the chance I had to meet with him. I also want to thank him for recently visiting Darwin and Palmerston and talking to some veterans. I look forward to a further meeting with the veterans' affairs minister when the opportunity arises so that we can follow up on the feedback he received during that visit.

To echo the minister's speech yesterday, it is far from the case that everyone leaving the ADF is broken, busted or doing badly. The truth is that for the vast majority of people serving in the ADF it is an overwhelmingly positive experience. I'm sure I speak for those former members of the Defence Force opposite who have served our country when I say that for the overwhelming majority of individuals it's a great experience going back into the broader community and showing all those great skills, attributes and knowledge gained, and how that service to our country can continue in different ways in the national interest. That transition into civilian life, although it can be stressful—and I'm sure we've all had times when we've experienced difficulties during that transition—can have the resilience that I think individuals gain in the ADF, and so the overwhelming majority of former defence personnel are able to transition back into civilian life well. For those who aren't able to make that transition as well, we should be doing everything possible to assist them, and I note some of the policies and programs that the minister mentioned yesterday which are aiming to assist that transition.

The Northern Territory is an important strategic location for defence and it continues to make a very substantial contribution to the NT economy, not only through direct and indirect employment but also through the demand for local goods and services that the defence organisation has. Defence personnel contribute substantially to our population and also contribute substantially to the turnover that we have in population in the Northern Territory. That comes with some challenges, but I like to think that in the Northern Territory we all work together to mitigate the sometimes negative effects of that turnover. Overwhelmingly, they enrich our community.

It's estimated that the NT's total defence population, including the families, is around 12,000 people, and, at the time of publishing, the last DVA annual report listed over 3,000 DVA clients in the Northern Territory, including myself. I note that, in his speech yesterday, the minister referenced a number of initiatives, as I mentioned, and Labor supports all policies that improve the lives of veterans. But I do urge the minister and those opposite to consider some of the policies that we took to the last election. They were announced after exhaustive consultation with the veterans community and I'm happy to talk to any of those opposite about those policies.

I think that a veterans employment program and assisting people into work is one of the most important things that we can do. Homelessness, unemployment and underemployment are all serious issues that, as I mentioned, are interrelated and require our immediate attention. I just want to mention that the recent report undertaken by WithYouWithMe listed the unemployment rate of veterans at about 30 per cent, and underemployment at 19 per cent. These figures are concerning and we should be doing all that we can to assist members transitioning out of service for our nation.

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