by leave—I, and also on behalf of Senators Canavan, Shoebridge, David Pocock, Thorpe, Roberts and Payman, move:

We move—That the Senate:

(a) notes that today marks two years since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its Final Report, yet many veterans and their families continue to face barriers to accessing timely care and support; and

(b) calls on the Albanese Government to urgently implement evidence-based policies and action the accepted recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, recognising that further delay is placing veterans' lives and wellbeing at risk.

It's been two years since the royal commission handed down their seven-volume report—two years since thousands of Australian veterans and their families went before the commissioners, reliving their trauma again and having to tell their stories again to share with the Australian people the terrible harm that was done to them by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and Defence. Once again, I thank them for their courage, especially the mothers like Julie-Ann Finney, who is in the chamber today, and of course my very dear friend and a former veteran himself, Andrew Wilkie from the other place.

I am also very sad to find out that we lost another veteran, a former 3RAR, over the weekend—my love and condolences to the family. Once again, I see Defence and DVA still not keeping up with veteran suicide. They can't tell us a number. They're not interested. Well, you should be interested because the reason that they are taking their lives has usually got something to do with yourselves. In this interim report, Commissioner Kaldas called out Defence, who were refusing to hand over documents—and still don't hand over documents. He also said that cultural problems still exist in Defence and that barely a week goes by without the inquiry being alerted to another veteran suicide. The unfortunate thing is we seem to be going back to those days. Commissioner Kaldas also said;

All of this raises questions as to whether Defence is committed to making change in the best interests of its members or whether they're just going through the motions.

Yes. I'm sorry to tell the former commissioner, but it looks like we're going through the motions still. In terms of Defence, I can tell you they are still, like I said, going through the motions.

We've had multiple reports over the years about the levels of sexual assault in our military and the lack of actions to pursue perpetrators and protect victims. The government and Defence have still done nothing to make real change. I'll be bringing a bill to this place in October that will change the way sexual assault allegations are actually dealt with, and I would encourage the government to support my bill.

I was in Townsville earlier this year visiting the veterans and their associations. I hoped that I would hear that claims processing was speeding up and that veterans were getting a fair hearing. After two days I found myself bursting into tears in Townsville, wondering what the hell I've been doing up here for 10 years. I really did. It broke my bloody heart that they had to go and relive their stories. They were brave enough and had the courage to do that, and we seem to be trickling along after the royal commission. We're two years in after the royal commission, and we're going backwards again—nothing to see here.

Well, I'd remind you I have five years left in this place, and, if you don't start pulling up your socks, I'll be in here every day stopping parliament until it's done, because one of us is going to get annoyed and it won't be me. I've got plenty of resilience. Like I said, I've got five years left, so start changing! Start changing! DVA put on more staff when the royal commission was still going on. Claims were getting processed faster, but once again we're going backwards. It's gotten even worse.

Five months after Townsville, about six weeks ago, I was in Brisbane hearing from doctors who weren't being paid for reports that the DVA were already using. Well, I find that plain theft, and that is unconscionable. That is absolutely unconscionable. I bet you still have not paid these doctors for those reports, because you are weaving me. You are avoiding me like nothing else I've seen. You pay those doctors for those reports! You are shameful! Some of those doctors have thousands on their books, and you know why? It's because they understand veterans. That's why we go to them. They have an interest in dealing with us. Not every GP or specialist out there wants to deal with us. That's fine. That is their call, but there are plenty that still do. When they do, with the limited number that we have, they've got thousands of us on their books.

I heard from advocates that claims were slowing, and I was hearing from veterans that some providers and advocates were ripping them off. But, instead of coming down hard on the providers, the department has taken it out on the veterans like it's our fault. We're wearing it because you won't do your job properly. I suggest you look at your security team. That'd be you, Mr Kefford. That'd be you because you have suicide on your conscience, mate. You're going after the wrong people, Kefford! You're going after the wrong people! Leave us alone!

In the 2026 budget, the government announced the $5,000 cap on veterans' allied health care, which includes neuropsychology, exercise physiology physiotherapy, podiatry, just to name a few. The reason we have health supports is to help veterans like me get back on their feet so we can return to the workforce. It helps with our mental health if we are still being productive within our country. I don't think you're getting that point. You should be throwing everything you can at us, especially if we haven't been written off, to keep us in the workforce because we need it. We need it. We need it so we feel wanted, not like we're just thrown out of the military and that's the end of us.

I issued a media release on budget night raising serious concerns about the $5,000 cap. I was told by the minister's office that there was no problem with the cap. I think we all know there is a massive problem with the cap, and capping health care for Australians who have signed up to serve their country is just disgusting. It's disgusting that you are now capping veterans' health care. Go after others but leave the veterans alone. It's just another hurdle of bureaucracy that we don't need when we are down and out. We don't need it. We don't want it. Go and take it out on someone else but leave us alone.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide happened because of advocacy that started in the 1970s from our beloved Vietnam veterans when they started drawing chalk outlines of bodies outside the Department of Veterans' Affairs. My God, it's 55 years later and suicides are building back up again. Seriously, you have no conscience. When he handed down his report, Commissioner Kaldas told Australia, 'Australia cannot afford for this royal commission final report to end up on the shelf gathering dust.'

If the government want to stop veteran suicides, they need to move faster, they need to move much faster and they need to crack down on the dodgy providers. And they need to stop dealing with veterans as if they are trying to leech off the system. Veterans don't leech off the system. The government need to remember that the key recommendation for the prevention of suicide was timely access to health care—timely access. The $5,000 cap flies directly in the face of that.

The Prime Minister needs to scrap the cap and get on to putting recommendations into place because, I can assure you, I am on your tail, and it is only going to get worse from here on in if things don't move. We'll go back to the good old days where we are naming and shaming. You want to come after us veterans? Then I'll switch it back around and, like I said, we'll go back to the good old days—the naming and shaming will begin.

The world is in a very dangerous place, and that means we need our Australian Defence Force to be in as good shape as it can possibly be, because God only knows when we're going to be called up again the way things are going. But if we aren't looking after our veterans before, during or after their service then I have to say: how can you expect them to keep serving us? How can I possibly keep standing here without saying, 'Please don't let your children enlist until the problem is fixed?' Because that is going to hurt your recruiting, especially if I start driving it home.

Start making change. Start putting the veterans first. And, Defence, you're just as bad. The more generals you put on, the worse those diggers get treated. That's how it works—too much top echelon, too many chiefs, not enough Indians. You're looking after yourselves. You throw us on the scrap pile and then you throw us out to a system that is still not working, like we are no responsibility of yours anymore. Well, I'll tell you what: this has gone wrong because you should have more responsibility to do more inside before you throw us out, and I do not see you even trying. There's been no lift. There's been no change. You throw us out like we're garbage and put us into the hands of a bureaucracy that we still can't find our way through and where we've got to wait for our claims for over a year, two years, three years.

Do you know what the easiest thing Veterans' Affairs could do is? If you knocked 30 per cent of those claims out and just said, 'That's it; we're accepting them,' my goodness me, not only would that take the pressure off your delegates—maybe they could reset and then keep up with the claims. But you are going to have to do bigger than putting a 5K cap on us. It's not good enough. So come up and work out a way you can write 30 per cent and just get it over and done with, because you are not catching up.

You have moral issues still going in the Department of Veterans' Affairs, I can assure you, because the public servants are coming at me left, right and centre. It is not good enough. You have something wrong with the top echelon of your Department of Veterans' Affairs. Maybe the people that have been sitting in there for God knows how many years, since right before this royal commission, who are still at the top, making decisions about our lives and still taking us out, should no longer be there. You would have thought that, after a royal commission, we would have had a clean sweep and you would have said: 'Well, you people at the top of DVA have caused enough problems. You're out.'

By the way, what they should have done was be decent people and put in their resignations. They are the problem and so is your security. They are getting it wrong once again, and you are going around it. You are going after the wrong people. You go after the providers—be my guest. But for us who have to deal with you—us with claims in—leave us alone. You are putting pressure on us, and that 5K is enough to send someone for whom that is their last straw to say, 'I'm done.' Just that little thing is enough, and then it's 'I'm done'. You're still not getting that.

I suggest you get off your bottoms and stop speaking to ESO Round Table, which, by the way, is not representing my generation or the ones below me. You put those people on ESORT because they're little 'yes' people that go, 'Yes, okay,' but they're not fighting for my generation. Where's our chance at that table? Where are the people representing us? Enough of the comfortable zone in there. Do you want to hear the real problems? Do you want to hear what we're feeling? Well, maybe you need to put us at the table. We've had enough. I've been saying that about the ESORT for a long time. I've had enough. Putting out a press release, ESORT, is not getting the job done. You're not running ads in papers to help us. You're not out there on social media with half a million people or close to a million people on there. You don't have that. You're not representing us. So either get off the goddamn table, or I'll push you out eventually. That's where I am with ESORT.

The government is pleased to support the motion moved by Senator Lambie. I acknowledge Senator Lambie's contribution on these issues over many years in this parliament. Today, of course, marks two years since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its final report, and that royal commission was the most significant and most comprehensive inquiry conducted into suicide and suicidality in Defence and veteran communities. And I acknowledge those in the gallery, as Senator Lambie did, including Julie-Ann Finney, who fought so hard for that commission to be established.

The royal commission heard harrowing evidence from thousands of currently and formerly serving Defence members and their families and, in particular, the families of those who are no longer here to speak for themselves. We thank all of those who came forward and bravely told their story to the royal commission. Your courage and the royal commission's work direct the necessary change that is needed to save lives.

We heard of systems that were broken, of a culture that was toxic and that simply not enough was being done to support Aussie personnel in and following service. The final report of the royal commission was a historic opportunity to deliver lasting reform and support our defence personnel, our veterans and their families. The evidence we heard should have left no-one in this place in any doubt that there was need of great reform, and the government, since we came to office, has been working every day to deliver real and meaningful and enduring reform for defence personnel, veterans and families.

On this anniversary we note that we had implemented 32 of the recommendations at the end of last year and we will have implemented two-thirds of recommendations by the end of this year. We have taken action on some of the most important recommendations from the royal commission, including establishing a new defence and veterans service commission that will improve independent oversight and evidence based advice to improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for the defence and veteran community. The new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency has been up and running since 1 July this year and is better supporting veterans and families. Just last week we announced that Natasha Stott Despoja AC has been appointed deputy commissioner of the independent Defence and Veterans' Service Commission to lead the inquiry into military sexual violence recommended by the royal commission. Today we announced that the Albanese Labor government will go further and implement even more of the recommendations of the royal commission.

We always viewed our response as a starting point, not the end of the work. It's why we've continued to examine the recommendations from the commission, strengthening our response as further work has identified a way forward. The Albanese government has now updated the response to 15 recommendations. There are now a total of 113 recommendations which have been agreed or agreed in principle by the government, with a further eight recommendations to be noted. We are continuing to implement the recommendations from the royal commission at pace. Before this place, there are two bills that together implement 20 recommendations and support a further 20. I encourage everyone in this place to work together to ensure the passage of those bills to continue to implement these important recommendations.

Of course, in coming to government, we have also needed to fund and fix a broken system. Since day one, we've worked to improve the lives of defence personnel, veterans and families with significant funding increases. This was well overdue. The state of veterans funding when we came to office was a disgrace. Under the previous government, the Department of Veterans' Affairs was underfunded and underresourced, and this did mean that veterans were not getting access to the services and supports that they need and absolutely deserve. We have been working to rebuild things ever since. Everybody knows there was a backlog of 42,000 new veteran claims that had not been looked at by anybody in DVA under the previous government. As a direct result of the funding by our government of additional DVA staff in the 2022-23 budget, we cleared that shameful backlog. We have continued to properly resource DVA so the funding for health care, support and compensation that veterans need and deserve can get to them faster.

The past three years have seen record claims processing by DVA. Determinations increased 42 per cent, from 62,583 in 2022-23 to 88,911 in 2025-26. Initial liability condition determinations have increased 123 per cent, from 106,667 to 238,389. In 2025-26, DVA determined a bit over 238,000 initial liability conditions, and that is the highest number on record. Each of these decisions represents a formal determination about a veteran's health condition and opens the door to treatment. Approximately $15 billion was spent on payments and services for over 360,000 veterans and their families in 2025-26. That is some $5 billion more than four years ago, under the Morrison government. Our changes, our investments in system capacity, are seeing resources flow to veterans as they should. Our changes included around $10 billion in compensation payments and a further $5 billion in healthcare treatment being paid out.

We continue to progress these recommendations. We're not only better funding veteran support; we have made once-in-a-century changes to simplify veterans entitlements legislation and improve integrity in the system, and we are taking a holistic wellbeing support approach to supporting veterans and their families. From 1 July this year, the most significant reform to Australian veteran support systems in generations began. The royal commission told us. They found that the previous veterans legislation system was so complicated that it adversely affects the mental health of some veterans and can be a contributing factor to suicidality. The changes to the veteran support system that came into effect on 1 July this year simplified the veterans compensation system.

We want to support people. Of course we do. We have deep respect for the veterans who pulled on a uniform and served our country. Anyone who puts on that uniform in our name deserves nothing less. Those who serve in our ADF and their families should be confident that they will be well supported by their leaders, by their mates and in the broader defence and veteran community, both during their time in service and following. it. And Australia's personnel should be safe in the knowledge that, whatever happens in service, they and their families will be looked after and acknowledged by a grateful nation. There is more work to do, but our government takes this work seriously, and we do so because of our deep respect, our deep gratitude and our deep belief in the service that is offered by veterans to their country.

We're winning. On this issue, we are winning, thanks to the veterans who are standing up. Thank you so much. You are winning. I'm honoured to support you. I'm honoured to sign this motion from Senator Lambie.

Minister, you opened the door, and I thank you for that. But at the moment they're only words, and words mean nothing. It's the intent. You can talk about spending billions of dollars, but it's the intent and the efficiency with which it's spent. The backlog of claims under your government has increased. Veteran suicides remain so high that government action cannot wait another day. We need to see concrete details. How many vets need to die? I'm feeling a mixture of feelings at the moment, which I'll get onto in a minute. But let me just read into the Hansard clause (a) of Senator Lambie's motion that I co-signed:

notes that today marks two years since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its Final Report, yet many veterans and their families continue to face barriers to accessing timely care and support

That's one reason I signed this.

And I have a mixture of feelings. I'm feeling afraid for the vets who are hanging by a thread. I'm feeling downright angry at the same time. I'm feeling sad, I'm feeling grief and I'm feeling shame—shame that we're part of a parliament that has a history of ignoring veterans. I have all those feelings. But I can't help the depth of the feelings in veterans at the moment. What do they need? What do we need? We need justice. We're not getting it. We need fairness. We need truth and honesty—not getting it. And veterans need to be heard. The fact that you've accepted this motion and allowed it by leave means we're winning and we are getting to the point where you are acknowledging indirectly that you're listening or that you've heard.

This Labor government, like the coalition before it, has taken the position of treating veterans with disrespect and abuse and has failed to provide them with the support they deserve. Why? Because your government is under pressure—self-inflicted pressure: your waste, hypocrisy, deceit. Everyone in Australia can feel the pressure—through inflation, through skimping of services—but we don't need to include the veterans in that, and that's what we're doing. Your self-inflicted waste of taxpayer funds leaves you with the shortage. Now you're penny pinching—the cap comes in, the spending on DVA decreases this year and then increases in the future—because you've got budget pressures that are self-inflicted. Why should the vets pay for that? Why?

Placing a cap on allied health care will reduce the vital care that many veterans need and deserve. Why should travel be part of the cap? We've got Mr Farley in the lower house, representing Farrer, saying that a big portion of the cap is chewed up in his electorate by travel. Why should travel be included? But there are so many other things that I'll talk about in a minute.

Veterans have served their country at massive personal risk and massive personal cost. Yet, upon their return or discharge from service, they've been ignored and hurt by this Labor government's penny pinching in the knowledge that their actions abandon their vets. You know this is going on—or maybe you don't, because listening is not one of your strengths. Is it deliberate? Is it incompetence? Is it dishonesty? Is it fear—running away from issues? The three keys that mark this Albanese Labor government, in my opinion, are dishonesty—we were able to use the word 'lies', but we're not allowed to now—waste and hypocrisy.

Last week, I had the pleasure and the honour of joining Wounded Heroes in Townsville—a support group that's received no Commonwealth funding despite the valuable support they've provided and continue to provide for our vets. They're a crisis intervention centre. A veteran calls and says he or she hasn't got a home. They need medical treatment, they're about to commit suicide or they talk about one of their mates. Wounded Heroes springs into action. They receive no government funding. They raise money through their own business and through donations. I must give them a plug for the marvellous work they do and point out that they've got a fundraising event at Castle Hill in Townsville on the 20th of this month. Government, you're wasting billions, and you're not concerned about veterans. Martin and Kim Shaw—Martin turned away from a career as a merchant banker in which he could have made millions, because he was so concerned about veterans. Martin and Kim Shaw; Dave, their manager; the volunteers in their businesses; the volunteers in their op shops—what an amazing group of people. That's what I call commitment and service.

It was so refreshing to meet retired Lieutenant General Greg Bilton. He's retired, and he's volunteering as the chairman of Wounded Heroes. His eyes were alight as he discussed his love for the military, his love for veterans and the fact that he's got something really important to do in his life. But the government doesn't help Wounded Heroes. It does not help Wounded Heroes at all. It's so refreshing to hear Greg Bilton talking about the inadequacies of the DVA and the inadequacies of the top brass of our military. And there's some sadness, but he's alive because he knows he's contributing. Associated services like Veterans First Consulting—and Kevin Chapman, who I met—are such wonderful people. They're data driven.

Speaking of being data driven, I've just come from Senator Whitten's office, where we've got two representatives from Trojan's Trek, Dan and Tim. They're pushing an evidence based approach to caring for veterans and providing them with the necessary mental and physical health support. Evidence based! That's something I've noticed so much with veterans. As I've said before in the Senate, the best conversations I've had since being a senator have been with veterans. They're disciplined and self-disciplined, they can use data, they can speak profoundly well and they're just basically marvellous people. Trojan's Trek showed me graphs with data backing them that shows they are indeed taking an evidence based approach. Dan, as he's talking to me about his own condition, tells me he was told he'd never walk again, but watching a young lady in the gym pounding through weights inspired him, and he's now living a normal life, but he's got the evidence. Trojan's Trek is having success but no funding. So many veterans organisations are having success with no funding.

Ongoing veteran care is disgracefully underresourced. It's a blight on the Labor-Liberal coalition uniparty. When they're in opposition, they promise all the support for veterans. 'It's a really shameful approach to the veterans,' they say the government is taking. But then when they get into government they don't do anything, correct? They hide, and they forced veterans to jump through hoops to access care for service related injuries and conditions. That's cruel and heartless. We can have veterans coming up against their allied healthcare cap in a matter of five months into the new financial year, and then they stop. This is what they're afraid of. They stop, and that interrupts their healing, especially if it's a mental health treatment, and they fall backwards. This Labor government's approach and the coalition's approach before it are a contributing factor to serious mental health issues for many of our returned servicemen and servicewomen. They deserve far better.

Action needs to be taken now. Stop the delays. Cut the red tape. Cut the crap, and support these vets now by adopting the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This is not only affecting the vets who have returned from service or been discharged from service. This is affecting the future service of the Defence Force in this country. It's dramatically affecting retention and recruitment, because it's eroding the concept of mateship, which is the strategically most important concept in the Australian Defence Force.

It's not just the future of the ADF that's at stake here. It's the security of 28 million Australians who rely on the ADF for their security. Right now, the Chinese Communist Party would be watching. They can see what I can see. They can see what Senator Lambie can see. They can see what so many veterans can see—the deterioration of our armed forces under the current top brass. They're spending money for DEI initiatives, money for woke policies, money for transgender. You can't change gender, but here we are. We're getting people are getting paid to change gender or claim they're changing gender and paying for dresses for them. These are warriors. They cannot change their sex. No-one can change their sex. This is happening for two reasons. The senior brass has been politicised, and the senior brass—the defence department, the politicians in Labor and Liberal who've been defence ministers and the senior brass-is weak, not providing the right leadership.

Right now on the other side of the Pacific in the United States, we've got an administration that's calling its soldiers warriors. It's going well for the members of the military. I'm going to read clause B, the second clause of Senator Lambie's motion, 'calls on the Albanese government to urgently implement evidence-based'—your veterans are doing it—'policies and action the accepted recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, recognising that further delay is placing veterans' lives and wellbeing at risk'. This is not too much to ask. This is basic respect for veterans who have treated our country with respect.

In concluding, I take it that, because you've accepted this motion, you can see the vets have really put on a very, very strong case in the last few months, and we're proud to support them. It's the least we can do. Veterans, you're winning because these people are allowing us to speak.

I rise on behalf of my party, the Greens, to support this motion by Senator Lambie and again thank Senator Lambie for ensuring that veterans and protection and support for veterans are not forgotten in this place.

It has been two years since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its final report, and yet we know that despite some actions from the government many veterans and their families continue to face those real barriers to get the support they need and the services they need. I'm not going to pretend that the government has done nothing, because that wouldn't be fair. The government has gone some way to implement elements of the royal commission report. There's another bill, implementation bill No. 2, that is waiting for this parliament to pass it. We've been having productive conversations with the government, and we would like to see that passed with improvements as soon as we can. This is true.

I've also seen the coalition come in here and One Nation come in here and rant about this issue, and some of the complaints are legitimate. But I don't recall One Nation ever testing the coalition on the coalition's appalling failure to deal with veterans in the previous parliaments. They just seemed to be completely silent. This outrage that we hear—some genuine, some confected—suggesting that this is all the Labor Party's failure is just historically false. The coalition were appalling in their treatment of veterans. They left tens of thousands of veterans waiting for years to get a basic determination about liability. They refused to fund the department, and because of this people in the department were having a meltdown—incredible stress, incredible pressure, big staff turnover. That meant veterans weren't getting the services they needed.

That's the coalition's record in this space. For them to come in here as though they're some white knights concerned about veterans is such a false narrative. And I say again, while that was happening to veterans, I saw Senator Lambie challenge it. I saw Senator Lambie take it on and raise the issues, but I never once heard One Nation do it. I never once heard them do it. They come in here now and say they've always been on the side of veterans. Well, actually, there is something called truth, and there is something called history. What they now say is just not true. It's convenient for them because they now realise that there's some political point to be made, and I think some of their motivations are genuine.

But look at the history. When veterans needed support, when the coalition was dudding them—basic silence. I'm going to highlight again that Senator Lambie was the one. I'm sick of this ahistorical view from the coalition and One Nation. Veterans watching this are working with whoever they can work with to try and get this sorted. That's what veterans are doing. They'll work with whoever will be in their corner in this moment. I'm sure veterans must feel this. They know that they were betrayed by the coalition for years. They know that One Nation didn't give a rat's about them for years, never even saw them.

The reason veterans are working with these parties is not because there's some kind of natural affinity; it's just because Labor has been hopeless on this cap thing and damaging veterans. Veterans are not political pawns. Their needs, their rights and their family's rights should be a rock-solid space. It shouldn't be about whether it's politically convenient or not to support veterans. I'll be quite frank about it as the Greens spokesperson for veterans; we don't do this because we think there are a whole raft of veterans who are suddenly going to be voting for the Greens. We do a lot of work in my office for veterans. I want to really call out the work of my team who are doing work that none of us see, that none of you see: responding to emails, responding to complaints, getting veterans the healthcare they need, responding to it in bulk.

We don't do that because we think it's some kind of convenient political play. All of that work is happening with my team, and I'm going to give a shout out to Gigi and my team—amazing work—because this stuff matters and because veterans matter. Their health matters. Responding to them and getting them timely treatment matters. To see the way the politics plays out on this—I understand why veterans are doing this, because how else do you get heard in this place? How else do you get seen? How else do you get protected?

With that said, I want to be clear that the Greens are supporting this motion because the guts of it is to respond to the royal commission—implement the royal commission. It's the right thing to do. It's just the right thing to do. When that royal commission handed down its final report documenting the deep cultural issues within Defence and the devastating impact they had on veterans and families, and I remember the discussion here, I thought that maybe we kind of collectively got it—that, when you read the report that found that an average of 78 serving or former ADF members have died by suicide each year for the 10 years leading up to that report, maybe this place got it. Maybe we don't have to keep revisiting the toxic politics. Maybe it's actually just core support for veterans—like there should be core support for people on the NDIS and core support for people who need mental health treatment in Medicare. That core support thing I thought was the new bedrock.

The royal commission said that's it's not all just Labor's fault. It's not all just the government of the day's fault. It also spoke about what's happening inside the ADF—that code of silence, military values, shutting down, silence. The royal commission found that that was directly linked to suicide risk inside the ADF, and it said that Defence leadership should be held to account. Two years on, can you point to a single senior member of Defence leadership who's been held to account—anyone who's been marched out because they haven't got it?

We keep getting the reports because the kind of toxic leadership that was identified by the royal commission is still there. It's absolutely still there. If the government was true to the royal commission, they would have marched some of this toxic leadership out of their offices and they would have said, 'You don't have a job anymore because you don't get it and you're putting serving members of the ADF at risk.'

The royal commission said that there needs to be systemic cultural change and there needs to be things to deal with trauma, the inevitable trauma that comes from service. There's literally no other job that I'm aware of where, when you take on board the job, your employer is willing to kill you. That is the thing about Defence. There is no other job that has that associated with it. And, when you have that as a job, you're going to inevitably have trauma associated with it, and you're going to have to have rules and controls that make that an acceptable thing inside an organisation. And what we found from the royal commission is that actually creates harm and creates trauma and that there should be changes in how that trauma is dealt with.

Let's be frank. If that's always going to be a part of working for the ADF—your employer is always going to be willing to kill you—and that's always going to create trauma, is it any wonder that veterans need help and support? And what does Labor do in that place? I'll tell you what Labor does. Having said that they get it, having put that first recommendation through, they then come and want to get a three-quarters of a billion dollars budget saving by removing existing support from veterans in allied and health care. How do these two things sit together?

The royal commission says veterans need more support—they need more timely support—and their families need support, and Labor now says, 'Well, actually, once you hit $5,000 of physio or once you hit $5,000 of psych, we're going to put you through some torturous internal process in veterans' affairs where you may get further service, and we're going to structure this process in such a way that we're going to have three-quarters of a billion dollars in budget savings.' And that's now apparently good for veterans.

Again, it's no secret that my party, the Greens, thinks we should not be spending 47 billion dollars on building six under-gunned useless frigates that are already out of date and will be even more out of date by the time they're launched in the mid-2030s. It's no secret that we think that that is a crooked, corrupt, rotten deal and it should end now. What we would say is: 'Why don't you cancel Nos 3, 4 and 5 of those useless frigates and pay for veterans' physios? Why don't you just cancel one of the bloody frigates, the $9 billion white elephants?' Do white elephants float? I don't know if white elephants float. Why don't we just cancel one of those useless frigates that we know won't work and pay for veterans' psych and physio and the needs there? I can tell you, it would cover the entire bloody allied health bill between now and forever—for one of these useless things.

Thank you, Senator Lambie, for bringing the motion. That's why we support the motion, not for the shitty politics but because actually, if you ask veterans, if you ask people to serve and do this, you have this rock-solid obligation to support them.

Well, talk about politics! One Nation has always cared about our veterans. We do not see them as a political pawn and take great offence to the suggestion. Since I've been in this place, I have been working hard to help in any way I can, particularly with sovereign capability in estimates. All I hear from Senator Shoebridge is how he can tear the place down. He hates our military. Where do you think the veterans work? Spare me the lecture, Senator. One Nation supports our military and our veterans.

Question agreed to.