Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to address the Defence Legislation Amendment (Discipline Reform) Bill 2021. There's no doubt that we live in a changing society with changing workplaces, and the acceptance of many actions and behaviours yesteryear is perhaps no longer permissible, not just in Defence but right across society. There has been a lot of reform within the workplace concerning our treatment of individuals—bullying, for instance. Respect, I think, is the bottom line as well as the value of reaching speedy resolution on problems that exist within the workplace. We all know that a problem in a workplace that is unresolved can cause tension between workmates, and Defence is no different. As the conditions change and society changes, so too do the rules need to change. Defence was once largely a male domain, and it now has a very mixed workforce. Once again, in many cases, activities that may have been tolerated in the past would no longer be tolerated in Defence and, when infringements occur in this area, they need to be dealt with quickly. They're not something you want hanging around for a long time.

I'm sure we've all seen the kind of induction that people get in the defence forces—I haven't served in the forces, but it has been depicted quite well—with the sergeant or the corporal about 50 millimetres away from the inductee, yelling their tonsils out in a very confrontational way. For instance, I had a friend some years ago who joined the reserves. He gave up after a few weeks, when, in the middle of a rain event, he was asked to dig a hole under a tree and, once he completed the task, he was asked to shift it. Basically, he had to fill it in and start again somewhere else. I don't know whether that kind of treatment goes on in Defence today. I suspect it's not the same as it was, because the expectations of society and workers—and, at the end of the day, that's what Defence Force employees are; they're workers—are quite different.

Looking for a bit of inspiration, I googled famous AFL sprays, and I saw Ron Barassi giving someone a dreadful dressing down, Rodney Eade's complete rant and Malcolm Blight—there's a whole list of them. If you watch them, you see that that's not the way they treat their workforce today. They treat them with much more respect because society's expectations have changed, and dispute resolution, as a rule, is dealt with very quickly. Basically, it doesn't fit the bill anymore, and neither does it in the modern Defence Force.

The essence of this amendment is discipline resolution. It's the link between cause and effect: if I sin today, do I get dealt with tomorrow, next week or next year? The purposes that sit within Defence at the moment can often lead to it being next year, because it ends up in an adversarial court situation, which, of course, at the end of the day, only makes people more reluctant to report poor behaviour. This moves in that area. It takes account of the modern world, which the member for Sturt just spoke. The fact is that the electronic world and our mobile phones have such a big part to play in society. There's an instant camera in our pocket or in our hand at any given event, and there is the ability to spread information, misinformation, rumours and all those other kinds of things around on the electronic services. We need to be up to date in the Defence Force as well. I'm pleased that this legislation takes those issues into account.

Our military has an excellent reputation worldwide as a well-trained, highly disciplined unit that can get done jobs that need to be done. We owe a great debt of gratitude to them. Every year, when it comes to those important dates on the calendar—Anzac Day, Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan or Vietnam Veterans' Day—we pause to reflect on those who have served in our country's service. But we shouldn't forget them on any given day. Certainly, individuals get changed in the defence forces and generally, I would say, for the better—not always, because sometimes they come away with poor experiences and things that cause mental issues. But, in general and across the board, if one of my children were wanting to go into the military, I would be encouraging them, not discouraging them. That's what I think of the organisation and the values that it holds and the important role that it delivers for Australia's place in the world. That's why we need to keep it relevant. That's why we need to keep it up to date. I'm pleased that this legislation is receiving bipartisan support. I commend the proposed legislation to the House.

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