Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After the conclusion of the sitting week last week, some of us remained in parliament. Some had business with their respective parliamentary committees. In the other place, the sitting week continued into the early hours of Saturday morning. Some were still here for the conclusion of the Australian Local Government Association's National General Assembly, where I was glad to meet with local government representatives from my electorate of Spence, such as Mayor Karen Redman and Henry Inat of the Town of Gawler Council and Mayor Glenn Docherty and Councillors Misty Norris and Gay Smallwood-Smith from the City of Playford.

Many members were able to use the Friday to go back to their electorates and make the most of having a precious weekday at home in amongst this winter session. On Friday morning, I was joined in Spence by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. It was an auspicious occasion for the minister to come down to Spence and pay us a visit. The minister is no stranger to my electorate of Spence. We were pleased to have him in Spence late last year to speak with representatives from a large number of veterans groups at the Salisbury Hotel, along with South Australia's Minister for Veterans Affairs, Geoff Brock.

Last week's visit by the minister was all the more auspicious due to the fact that the visit brings the Northern Adelaide veterans and families hub one step closer to fruition. This was an initiative that began prior to my election as the member for Spence, starting back in March last year with a commitment from an incoming Labor government to establish a veterans and families hub in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. There are thousands of veterans living in my electorate of Spence who are counting on initiatives such as this to bring about positive outcomes when times are tough. I know I have done so many times since, but I again thank the member for Blair for his assistance, as the shadow minister for veterans' affairs at the time, in getting this project to materialise, from a mere proof of concept to something that I am here today to discuss in this chamber. There are just over 6,000 veterans within the electorate of Spence, and that number climbs to nearly 11,000 when including those from nearby electorates that border Spence, such as Barker, Grey, Mayo and Makin.

Spence also houses a vast number of ADF personnel, many of whom serve at RAAF Base Edinburgh. A number may reside there temporarily, but many do so in the medium- to long-term, with a number choosing to continue living in the area after the conclusion of their service. This is in large part a contributing factor to our having such a well populated veterans group operating within Spence and the local surrounds—a huge diversity with a number of views, but with the shared goal of protecting our brave men and women who serve our nation when they come home to their families and try to lead a mundane life, an ordinary life, a civilian life.

It has been an inconvenient truth that many veterans and current serving ADF personnel struggle with their mental health and with day-to-day life. For many veterans this can be as a direct result of their service, and for many veterans it comes about when trying to transition into civilian life. Some who have served may say they aren't struggling, or they may not say so openly, but, given the time and a bit of trust, they will tell you about the battles that some of the mates they served with have fought and continue to fight. Often these battles are waged for many years after the conclusion of their proud service to their country. To that end, there is no surprise at the sheer multitude of veterans, veteran support groups, RSLs and families and advocates of veterans that have liaised with me throughout this process. Many have been here from the start, all the way through to the night I mentioned earlier, when the Minister for Veterans' Affairs met with our veteran community at the Salisbury Hotel in October last year and then refined those ideas further at a roundtable that I held in Gawler in November last year. I am glad so many have stuck by me and stuck by the Albanese government's commitment to veterans and persevered through this process to ensure we have the best chance of getting the veterans and families hub right. We all have a vested interest in getting this right, and we all know that there is so much at stake.

Lastly, I look forward to seeing the vision that Lives Lived Well and the Legacy Club in Adelaide have for the hub. I can't wait to play my small part in making a positive difference in the lives of veterans in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. On a final note, I'd like to thank all serving personnel and former personnel for their service.

House adjourned at 20:00