Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like the member for Paterson, who has just finished her contribution—a good one at that—I too acknowledge Julie-Ann Finney and her role in supporting not just her son's legacy but indeed veterans per se. I acknowledge the veteran serving members in the chamber at the moment and thank them for their service: the member for Solomon and the member for Herbert—the shadow minister at the table—who went through Kapooka, Blamey Barracks, 1st Recruit Training Battalion at Wagga Wagga in 2006, when Simone Wilkie was the first female commandant at that important and strategic training centre. As all politics is local, I acknowledge the role that Kapooka has in turning out the best and the bravest, of whom the member for Herbert was one. I acknowledge he went on to serve at Singleton, 1RAR out of Townsville, and East Timor, appreciating and recognising the fact that the Prime Minister has just made a successful diplomatic visit there, and I acknowledge the role the member for Herbert played in Afghanistan and his tours of duty there.

It's not easy being a veteran, and we need to acknowledge that not all veterans are broken, but, for those who are, we need to be there for them, because we, as a parliament, send them to do their duty for and on our behalf. We, as a parliament, send them into harm's way, and many of them feel the lasting lifelong effects of their service once they hang that uniform up. Given the fact that we do send them into conflict, into battle, and put their lives on the line on the front line, we need to be there for them if they do need that support, and, at some stage or other, they will all need our support. I would urge and encourage any veteran to absolutely make sure that they use all of the services that are available to them. I know that the Department of Veterans' Affairs, for some veterans, is a bit of a trigger, but there are very, very good people in DVA—there are—and they are there to provide you with the wraparound support that you need as a veteran.

I also, given the fact that, as I say, all politics is local—and this is political—I want to acknowledge the role that Bob and Gladys Bak play at Bethungra Integrated Servicepeople's Association and the role that Jacqui Vincent and her colleagues play at Cootamundra. The drop-in centre in the main street, Parker Street, of that town is important. In Wagga Wagga, where there are many veterans, given the fact that we have Kapooka, RAAF Wagga in Forest Hill, where air power starts—it says so on one of the Royal Australian Air Force hangars—and a Navy base, would you believe. It's a long, long way from the nearest drop of seawater, but we have a naval presence of 80 or so personnel operating out of Forest Hill, operating in close quarters and in conjunction with those at Kapooka and the nearby RAAF. The veterans avail themselves of the services at Pro Patria in Ashmont, as well as the service provided in the main street, Baylis Street, at the drop-in veterans centre run by the Returned Services League. Every week, just about, we have a commemoration—a service, an event, a marker, a milestone—in the Victory Memorial Gardens, which are also in the main street. It is very much a garrison town.

The Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025 follows on from the harmonisation that the government is doing with superannuation payments for veterans, and that is a good thing too. It is. For years we have endeavoured to integrate and harmonise MRCA and DRCA and the other various provisions for veterans. It's a big log of work. DVA, of course, are very heavily involved with ministers for veterans' affairs, the defence minister, the government and the opposition. We work as a whole. When it comes to bipartisanship, we need as much as possible to be as one for our veterans, because our veterans deserve no less.

The coalition established the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, because veterans and their families deserved truth, they deserved systemic reform and they deserved accountability. There were 122 recommendations from that royal commission. It conducted its eighth hearing block at Mercure Wagga Wagga from 28 November 2022 to 1 December that year and heard some harrowing evidence, sombre evidence, evidence from veterans that needed and demanded an urgent response. But it wasn't just at Wagga Wagga, of course; it was at every hearing the royal commission conducted. We took that step of making sure that royal commission was available to hear from veterans because we knew that too many families had been ignored for too long and confidence in the system for some—not all, but for some—had broken down, and that was indeed unfortunate.

The royal commission confirmed what many, including the Julie-Ann Finneys of the world, had known all along: the ex-service community had been saying that systemic failure was affecting veterans and the services available to them and that we needed to do better as a government, as a parliament and as a nation. It made clear that lasting reform requires independent, system-wide oversight across the veterans and defence ecosystem, not oversight simply and merely and solely embedded with departments. Our departments are very good. Our public servants are exceptional. We should acknowledge that. I do recognise that. But we can always be better. We can always make improvements, and we can always review the performance of what we do as a parliament, the legislation that is in place and the effects that our departments and the law have. And not just the law but indeed such things as the payments, welfare services and health outcomes—all of that, for veterans, prevails across the sector.

One of the most significant recommendations was the creation of a permanent, independent statutory oversight body to drive reform and measure progress. When I was the veterans' affairs minister, for not a very long period between 2017 and 2018, the legislation for veteran-centric reform went into and through the parliament. I'll call that an important first step, because it acknowledged the fact that the lens of veterans had to be placed over every piece of legislation, because our veterans are embedded in all sectors and all areas of endeavour right across society, right across the economy. These bills are intended to give effect to the recommendation of creating that independent, permanent statutory oversight body, and the coalition supports that objective. Oversight bodies without the muscle or the teeth do not drive change. They produce reports, which, unfortunately, gather in in-trays on departmental desks and gather dust. That's not what this is about. That's not what this should be about. I acknowledge the role that the government is playing to endeavour to ensure that that doesn't occur.

Establishing the commission through standalone legislation is the right model, and it's the model that the coalition argued for from the very outset. The government's original attempt to create the commission through a late amendment to unrelated legislation, I have to say, wasn't well done. It was poorly handled. It lacked the proper consultation. One thing I would really urge and encourage this government not to do is rush legislation through this House in haste, because haste leads to poor outcomes. Unfortunately, we have seen that this year already, with the extraordinary sittings of the parliament in January.

The thing is: I know the government has a legislative agenda. I appreciate the government has a huge majority in the House of Representatives. That's the people's wish, and I understand that; I acknowledge that. But don't use that majority to push through legislation, because legislation needs to be debated. Legislation needs to have proper consultation with the stakeholders who will feel its effects the most. Proper consultation through peak groups—and others—is really important because it enables the parliament to get lawmaking right. We have an obligation and a responsibility to the people of Australia to get lawmaking right. We do. I do fear that there is a growing trend that this government is abusing its huge majority in the House of Representatives to push its agenda through. Take the time. Be patient. Be practical; be pragmatic. Make sure that you do that on any piece of legislation—on this and others.

That's why we, from the very beginning of this piece of legislation, urged and encouraged the government to do the work to get it right. Our veterans deserve that bare minimum. They deserve everything that we can do for them. We need to make sure, particularly with veterans legislation, that we don't rush the process—that we don't put it through parliament in record time. A major structural reform body should never be created through a last-minute legislative insertion. It undermines the confidence of sectors in the system, in the people elected to do the job on their behalf. Our veterans do look to us for support, and it must come from both sides.

Parliament was asked to wade through a complex oversight body with very limited visibility and limited stakeholder engagement, and that is not how serious veterans policy should be made. It is not. So I would urge and encourage that we ensure we take the time with this commission and with this bill. I know it will pass this place; it's got the support of the coalition. But we also need to ensure that, if there are any fine-tuning legislative measures that may happen in the house of review, in the Senate, in the upper house, then there's the time taken to do that as well.

Establishing this commission will very much have a flow-on effect throughout our veteran community—certainly in Wagga Wagga, which, as I said, is a triservice military city. It is one of those cities that take our veterans very seriously. It is one of those cities that take our current serving personnel very seriously and ensures that they are welcomed and very much part and parcel of our community—indeed, not just those who are currently wearing a uniform but their partners, their families, their children. I know that providing access to child care, to health services and to all of that—the full gamut—is so very important. Particularly for our veterans, ensuing that the provision of mental health services, welfare and support is there is a crucial part of understanding what our veterans are going through and what they need and ensuring that they can continue to contribute mightily to our nation.

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