Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Herbert from moving the following motion immediately:

That this House censures the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel for failing to meet today with veterans about the Government's cruel cuts to allied health services for veterans.

This is a national shame. This should not be occurring. The minister couldn't even stay and answer this himself. He hasn't met with the veterans who've served this nation who are demanding, demanding that this Labor government's cruel cuts to allied health services be revoked. A $5,000 cut for allied health for those that have served this nation is a disgrace. It's a disgrace.

Right now, veterans around the country are hurting. Say you have post-traumatic stress disorder, a shoulder injury, lumbar spondylosis, a knee injury and you're not doing too well. You look up, and the only light you can see is that you're getting treatment. When you hit that $5,000 cap, that light gets taken away, and it goes dark. What are you supposed to do? The minister says: 'Just call the department.' How? Get on the phone for 45 minutes, four hours, nobody knows. When you're not doing well this is not what you should have to go through.

I've been told by veterans in towns all around the country: 'I will not be a burden on my family. I will not be a burden.' Do you know what that means? That's a plan. That's someone who's made a plan that, when the $5,000 cap runs out in about three months for them, they won't be here anymore. That's what veterans are saying. That's what veterans that came here to parliament today are saying. But the minister couldn't clear a diary schedule, couldn't miss lunch for a day, couldn't just change something to meet with these veterans. There is nothing more important than making sure that our veterans, those that we've asked to serve, can get to see their minister. They can stand there and say, 'we don't agree'. The minister doesn't have to agree, but he must listen.

This is simply not good enough. I've spoken about my own experiences, about my own mental illness, in this place before. I know how difficult it is when you're going through it, when those days turn into nights and you can't remember the last time you've slept, when you don't know what the pain medication you had or you don't know if you started or stopped, when you don't know who to call and when the only things you're thinking about are how tough it is and how the department's not listening. That next call determines whether you're here or not. If they don't answer or you can't get the support or the mental health treatment that you need—I know what happens next because I've carried the coffins of my friends. I know what happens next because I've been in that hole. I know what happens next because Julie-Ann Finney is sitting in the gallery holding a photo of her son.

We must get rid of this cap. We had veterans, allied health services, a GP and an OT sitting in the gallery. To say that they're screaming out for this cap to be placed on top of veterans is not true. It is not true, and it shouldn't be there. It is not what we want. It's not what my friends want. It's not what the guys that are calling me on the weekend going, 'mate, I don't know how much longer I will have if this $5,000 cap is there' want. 'Where am I supposed to get the support I need? Who do I call? Where does the help come from?' It doesn't.

Those families who have that extra burden placed on top of them look at their loved one. They look at that person who is their trusted rock and who served this nation proudly, whether in peacekeeping, humanitarian or combat operations. Their person is hurting and their person can't get the support they need. What happens next? I don't have the answer, and clearly the minister doesn't either. The minister's job is to listen, work and deliver for the veteran community.

That's why this motion is so important, and that's why the suspension is so important, because he's not meeting with the veteran community. He's not listening. He's not working for and he's definitely not delivering for them. He's decided to cut and run during this suspension. He didn't answer the question in question time. We had a bunch of veterans and family members stand up so he could see them and so that they could be counted, and all he looked at was the shadow minister and wanted to point and say that he shouldn't have asked that question. It was not good enough. The Prime Minister should meet with these veterans and family members. I remember in government I was sat in the room with the then prime minister and with veterans who were red-hot mad at us. You know what? We stood there, we listened, we spoke to them, we understood, and—you know what?—we made changes. It went from not being a government policy to being a government policy because our job is to listen, work for and deliver on. These promises, that this government is looking after veterans, is false. It is not happening.

I'm sure that he's popped in unannounced, but, in the largest garrison city in the country, Townsville, we have the most veterans per capita. No-one that has come to my office has said, 'I'm really happy that the Labor government has decided to put a $5,000 cap on my allied health services.' They've never said that. They've said, 'Where am I going to get the support?' Family members have been crying down the phone to me going: 'How is my loved one supposed to get help? How is my loved one supposed to get their allied health practitioner on the phone or get the services?' These poor allied-health-service providers are going to start turning people away. That's why they flew to Canberra today. That's why they're here. They're not veterans, but they're standing there going, 'Our people, who we serve and who've served us aren't going to get the service any more.' From a knee injury or a back injury to shoulder or mental illness, once it's compounding and once it's all there, it will be unbearable. I know it's unbearable, because I've looked in the mirror and seen it myself. I know it's unbearable because I've taken two-o'clock-in-the-morning phone calls from veteran mates of mine who are talking about suicide, who have a plan. Veterans now are talking about not being a burden. That's a plan, and that's a worry. It's incumbent on every person in this parliament to make sure that not one veteran is worse off, let alone a veteran who could succumb to their war within and die by suicide, because of bad legislation.

This should be debated. It should have been answered in question time, but the minister should have just met with these veterans. It's just what he should do, and I expect him to come in here, stand at the despatch box and debate this. That's what he should be doing, but he's run out. Our veterans that were in here left before he finished speaking because of how disgusted they were. I want to be very clear they have very different political views than I do. They're from all walks of life and all different types of service. They walked out because their minister has refused to meet with them. Their minister wouldn't stand with them. Their minister has let them down and betrayed them. Those we send into dangerous places, those who we've sent on operations and all around, deserve the respect. On Anzac Day or Remembrance Day there is nothing more sure to me than a politician, especially a Labor politician, running to the first veteran and get a photo with their medals on their chest and post on their social media saying, 'Lest we forget.' 'Lest we forget' isn't a bunch of words. It's a commitment that we make in this parliament to make sure that we never let these brave men and women down, never, not on a Wednesday, not on Anzac Day—every single day. We need to be fighting for them, because right now this government isn't fighting for them. Right now this government is betraying them. I have veterans sending their medals back to me because of how upset they are and because of how betrayed they feel from this government.

You can't ask our men and women to serve this nation—fight for, defend, go on humanitarian missions—and then turn your back on them like you have today. You've turned your back on them. You have broken your commitment and your promise, and you should be ashamed of yourself. I would expect members of parliament, regardless of the colour of the shirt they wear, to support this suspension because it is the right thing to do. And, if you think it's not, then call your veterans up and tell them why, because the veterans from around the country that reach out to us are absolutely hurting, and so are their families.

The last thing I want to have to do is come in here, like I have before, and read out someone's service number or PMKeyS, their name and where they've served, because they have succumbed to their war within. We can prevent this. We can stop this. We do not need any more veteran suicides. This parliament has an ability today and every other day to put our veterans first, and this minister should come in here and answer to them.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

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

I certainly second the motion. Standing and sessional orders must be suspended for this most important motion. Up in the gallery is Julie-Ann Finney; she's the mum of a veteran who took his own life. We also had amongst us this morning—amongst those heroes, amongst those veterans, amongst those who served our nation—Andrew 'Horse' Hudson, a decorated former SAS operator and K9 handler who served for 22 years. He deployed in Afghanistan many, many times. We had Dr Tim Nelson, a former RAAF fighter pilot, who's now actually a GP, helping veterans.

Our veterans need help. What they don't need is cuts. What they don't need is a $5,000 allied health services cap. The cap is insidious. It is cruel. It is unnecessary. This government, this Australian Labor Party, that came to office in May 2022 saying it would not leave anyone behind, has deserted our veterans and has turned its back on our veterans, who deserve better.

This parliament sends our men and our women to war, and those men and women have our backs when we most need it—when the Australian people most need it. Yet, when they come back and they return to civilian life, some of them are broken. Many are not, but some of them need help—psychological help, mental help, physical assistance. What happens is you get a budget like we had in May. The government turned its back on our veterans with this $5,000 cap. Shame on Labor! Labor said, 'Well, it's not just all about a cut or a cap or anything like that.' But I tell you what, in the budget papers there was a $748 million save—a $748 million cut to veterans. It is $748 million of valuable and valued assistance that is now not going to our veterans.

I have a veteran in Wagga Wagga who ultimately lost his leg because it hit a bolt on the other side of a wall in the obstacle course at the home of the soldier, Blamey Barracks. He is now an amputee. He has mental health problems, and he has, obviously, physical problems, with the loss of a leg. How can he be expected to reduce that service that he needs from his country, our country, to just $5,000 when he's lost his leg for his country? It is simply not good enough.

You've got heroes in the gallery today—20 of them—who came to parliament from right across this nation and who just want a meeting with the minister, and the minister is too tied up—too busy. I've been in those meetings, as has shadow minister Thompson. I've been in those meetings where, yes, it is difficult to listen. Yes, they are not on your side. But you owe it to the veterans, you owe it to the constituents and you owe it to taxpayers to meet them, to look them in the eye, to listen to them and to do what's dignified—to give them respect. And our veterans deserve respect. They put on a military uniform, and they are the best of the best in this nation. And then you get a mum who lost her son. All she wants is 15 minutes with the minister—to sit beside those other heroes, those veterans, and tell the minister why they think he should go back to the drawing board on this cruel $5,000 cap.

There was no consultation on this cap prior to the budget, and Labor says, 'Well, we'll consult after.' Well, it's not good enough afterwards. It should have been done before the budget, and it wasn't. I don't know why it wasn't, but I tell you what: our veterans are angry. There is white-hot anger out there, and they have every reason to be angry, because they fought hard for this country. They deserve better from this country. And they deserve better from this minister, who's still got time to meet them today.

Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

Milton Dick (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the House is that the debate be adjourned.