Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The defence community is a hugely important part of my community of Wentworth. I'm honoured to host three major defence communities in Wentworth, including HMAS Watson, Victoria Barracks and HMAS Kuttabul on Garden Island, as well as hosting a huge number of RSLs in my community, including the Paddington-Woollahra RSL Sub-Branch, the Bondi Junction-Waverley RSL Sub Branch, Rose Bay RSL Sub-Branch, North Bondi RSL Club, the New South Wales Police RSL Sub Branch, Bronte RSL Sub Branch, Coogee Randwick Clovelly RSL sub-Branch, the Waverley RSL Sub-Branch and the Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club. That really represents the depth of importance that the defence community has in my electorate.

We host the east coast's main navy. I run past HMAS Kuttabul almost every weekend, and I see many members of the community out at Anzac Day services and other places. I have, myself, and I think the broader Wentworth community have enormous respect for everything that our defence community and also our veterans have given to this country. It's part of the reason why I decided to ask to join the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in this term. I think now and from now on defence is going to become only more important to us in this country, and that means that we are going to have rely more on the good people who are in our defence forces, as well as our veterans, to look after us and to keep us safe in very uncertain times.

Talking to the community that I just described, both the existing bases and also the RSL community—it's with their interests that I have approached this bill. I'll be honest. My community and I have enormous concerns about this bill. I don't doubt the government intention here and I don't want to attribute bad motives to this bill, but I need to recognise that, in its current form, I will not support this bill, because it does not have the support of the veterans community, and that is for good reason.

The defence honours and awards system is of enormous importance to the defence community. This is not just about recognition of acts of service and sacrifice. It is also a social contract with those who have been trusted to serve and a recognition of what they have achieved. It underpins morale in the defence community, it conveys institutional respect—respect from the government and respect from all Australians—for what has been given and presents a transparent and dignified process for acknowledging extraordinary service.

Every Anzac Day I attend numerous services across the community, including, I think, one of the biggest in the country at North Bondi—a dawn service. I see the respect from the kids who get up at five o'clock in the morning to be there with thousands of other people and watch people with those medals either for themselves or for loved ones who are no longer with us. That respect—I think it's almost all, frankly, of the young kids in our community—is really important. It is about showing respect for those who make a contribution to this country which is not necessarily well paid. It is dangerous, but it is incredibly important work. Those medals really showcase people who have not just done the day-to-day work but gone above and beyond in the service of their country.

When I started to examine the bill more closely, one of the biggest concerns that were raised with me is the proposed time limit on tribunal reviews. Under this bill, once an honour or award application has been rejected, no appeal to the independent tribunal would be possible if the relevant operation occurred 20 or more years ago. This threshold effectively excludes recognition for veterans of conflict in Vietnam, Korea and Timor; some of the early Afghanistan conflict; and parts of the Iraq deployment, removing appeal avenues for the majority of tribunal applicants who have been heard between 2020 and 2023 and the majority of applicants who are current veterans in our community.

I believe that is not appropriate. I believe that is unjust and may halt the recognition of veterans who have made valuable contributions to our country's, and other countries', safety. I believe that they should be allowed that right of appeal. I believe that that restriction is unfair to those who seek that validation, fairness or correction decades after their service, and I have met some of those individuals in Wentworth and heard some of those stories of seeking that appeal and that support. I want to recognise, also, that the rejection of that sort of honour is very powerful in terms of its negative impact on individuals in this situation. I also support the repeal of overly restrictive provisions about who can submit review applications on behalf of our veterans. This flexibility is really important, ensuring that advocates, whether they are lawyers, veterans' representatives or appointed proxies, can act in support of those who, through age, illness or inability, may struggle to manage their own appeals. At a minimum, individuals affected by this cut-off should have the right to nominate advocates to pursue genuinely independent tribunal review on their behalf.

On this basis, I support the coalition's amendments, which would remove the 20-year eligibility limit for tribunal review, ensuring fairness irrespective of the passage of time; require that the decision-makers proactively inform applicants of their tribunal review rights, guaranteeing transparency so that those eligible fully understand their rights and the appeal process; and repeal restrictions on who can be an applicant for review on behalf of affected persons. I believe that these are constructive and useful amendments to the bill and would make a material difference in improving the bill, which I believe is otherwise deeply flawed right now. I understand that the tribunal, which is an independent statutory body, is also expressing opposition to some of the changes that I've described here in my speech today.

Finally—I'll just put it simply—our veterans deserve a system grounded in fairness, clarity and lasting recognition. This bill, if passed in its current form, would undermine that trust. Let us ensure that our defence honours and awards system truly upholds the values and sacrifices that members of the defence forces have made and which it purports to honour.

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