Doorstop interview Goldsworthy Veterans' and Families' Centre, Rockingham

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
GOLDSWORTHY VETERANS’ AND FAMILIES’ CENTRE, ROCKINGHAM
22 OCTOBER 2026

SUBJECTS: Goldsworthy Veterans’ and Families Centre opening; Helen Haines; universities merger 

MADELEINE KING, MEMBER FOR BRAND, MINISTER FOR RESOURCES AND NORTHERN AUSTRALIA: The opening of the Goldsworthy Veterans and Family Centre here in Rockingham is a real game changer for veterans and their families and their care in our community. I want to thank Minister Keogh for the excellent work he has done. He and his team have made sure that the Veterans’ Hubs program has been rolled out. And here in Rockingham it has been rolled out to one of the highest standards programs I've ever seen, especially for veterans in our community. This is a navy town in Rockingham. We host HMAS Stirling, the biggest naval base in the country and we have one of the highest proportions of veterans. So, to have the Goldsworthy Veterans’ and Families’ Centre opening today is a really special, special moment for the care of our veterans and their families. With that I'll hand over to Minister Matt Keogh.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS: Well, thank you Madeleine and it's great to be down here in Rockingham in your part of the world. Together with Duncan, the President of RSLWA and a great number of our ex-service community in terms of support services organisations, veterans and family members here today. The Albanese government has been rolling out our Veteran and Family Hubs across the country to provide that better coordination of care and support for our veterans and their families across the country. And today is a really significant milestone in that rollout with the of the Goldsworthy Veteran and Family Centre here in Rockingham. Rockingham is home to HMAS Stirling, Australia's largest navy base, but the Rockingham area has some 8,000 veterans and family members. It is a very significant veteran community nationally. And making sure that our veteran community here, as we are across the country, are best able to access services and support that they need, whether it's in the building at the Goldsworthy Centre or being referred to those services that are available in the broader community to support them. It's really important that there's somewhere they know they can go. And recognising that it's not just our veterans who may need support, it's also their families. It's also families that are often first responders to our veterans that are in need. And so them knowing that they can come to a centre like the Goldsworthy Centre to get support for themselves, but also for their veteran family member is incredibly important. The Albanese Government's invested over $5 million into getting this Goldsworthy Centre up and running with the work of the RSL here in WA to make it a reality. They've also worked in partnership with the SAS association in developing a satellite site as well up in Swanbourne to support the SAS veteran community and the broader veteran community up in that part of Perth, making sure that they've got a hub of support services, working together next to the base to make sure that they also get great quality of care and support in a coordinated way. Because we know that when it comes to supporting our veteran community, as we saw in the report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, making sure that those supports are delivered in a coordinated way across the whole spectrum of wellbeing, support services available is incredibly important and we're really pleased that we're seeing that now available here in Rockingham as well as up in Swanbourne, to better support our Western Australian veteran community and their families.

JOURNALIST: I do have a couple of questions on this and also some questions of the day. Do either of you have a time crunch that you would prefer?

KEOGH: Let's do the stuff about this first and then we can …

JOURNALIST: 8,000 in this region, how many do you expect to come through the Goldsworthy Centre and what has the response been like so far?

KEOGH: The response to opening the Centre here has been phenomenally positive and we can see that in the range of different organisations that are coming to work out of the Centre here to support the broader veteran community. And if you look at the range, whether it's chaplaincy services, psychology, support services, Veteran Gaming Australia, being able to have a facility where you can do mums and bubs programs to support those veteran families, as well as pilates, it's such a broad suite of support and engagement services and providing that social connection, you'll see that this is not a sub branch, it's not a clinical centre. It is a Centre that people feel comfortable coming to, where they can be engaged, where they can meet with other veterans, where they can share their stories and they know they can be connected to the supports that they need. And we know with such a significant veteran community here, and from the engagement that I know RSL WA have already had and the engagement that I've had with the broader veteran community, the sub branches of the RSL, for example, as well as others, they're really looking forward to being able to access these services. And even the people who are serving on the base, knowing that there's a Centre like this here to support them now and into the future is incredibly important.

JOURNALIST: Talk about the other offerings in Swanbourne. Are there plans to further expand the Goldsworthy presence in WA?

KEOGH. So, what we've committed to as a government was to fund this centre here in the southern suburbs of Perth, recognising that HMAS Stirling is the biggest navy base in Australia. And to support that work of RSL WA working with the SAS association, they're also coordinating with the SA SAS Resources Trust as well in providing that coordination of services. And the RSL WA already operates its Anzac Centre in the city, making sure that there's that central point as well for veterans to be able to access service and support.

JOURNALIST: You talked about there's a sense of community here and the response from services in the area. How important is it to have a hub that does offer all these things in one place, rather than having to get people to go to a variety of different other locations?

KEOGH: We're actually really lucky in Australia that we've got actually thousands of organisations that provide support to our veteran community and their families. Many of those are specialist veteran support services, some of them are broader community support services. But that also makes it tricky for veterans and family members knowing where to go, how to access the right services or even just what's available. And that's why having the footprint of Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs that we've developed around the country, including now here in Rockingham, is incredibly important. It means that our veterans know that there's a place they can go to find out about what are the services that can support them when they need them. And that can evolve over time as well. So, just knowing that this is here right now because they may need it later is incredibly important. And we've built on that across the country, with establishment in the middle of this year of the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency that provides an online presence and a telephone presence for people to engage with when they are trying to find the right services for them or need a bit more coordinated care in accessing support. And that means that we've got a national footprint, no matter where anybody is, across the country, as well as being able to come to these places in communities where we've got the greatest concentration of veterans as well.

JOURNALIST: Well, and then to other issues. It's been a few days now since that incident involving MP Helen Haines. With some time now to reflect further, have you had any further discussions either within your team and with your staff? It's obviously been a topic that's come over to WA as well, asking MPs whether they feel safe and any improvements they'd like for their elected officers. How do you feel in WA? Do you feel safe here?

KEOGH: What happened to Helen has just been absolutely horrific and tragic and I think, you know my experience of getting that news is the same as colleagues across the Parliament and Parliaments in Australia, which is horror. And we're, you know, happy to see that, the update from her husband last night about her condition going forward. But it has certainly, I think, caused everyone to pause and think. I think, unfortunately, this reflects what we've been seeing for some time, which is a heating up of the discourse. The way in which people have been conducting themselves across the country, including here in Western Australia, particularly online, but also other engagements and behaviours that we've seen, which has been really troubling. And I think, and I hope, all Australians would recognise and reflect that one of the great beauties of our democracy and has been the openness of it, the way in which it's so free and easy, actually, for anybody to engage with our members of Parliament. And I'd really hate for this heating up of behaviour and the way in which people are talking about and to each other, heating up has really been putting that at risk. And I think that's a really great concern for the future of our democracy. It's something that members of Parliament are discussing with authorities. It's something we're discussing with each other and it's obviously something we're discussing with our staff, because as representatives of our community, we really want to be engaged with our community. We want to be able to be out and about having people stop us in the street and have a conversation. We also need to be safe and we need our democracy to be safe. And making sure that we're able to continue to do the jobs that people want us to do is incredibly important. What happened to Helen has certainly caused everybody to pause and stop, and I hope that it actually causes a bit of a change in some of those negative behaviours we've seen in the community.

JOURNALIST: A man is facing court here in Perth today over an incident that happened Minister Beazley's electoral office yesterday. Coming in threatening staff, having gunshots. Obviously it's in front of the courts now, but to hear of an incident like this and to see the minister today, do you have a message for people who are on the cusp of committing any sort of threatening behaviour to MPs? I know it seems like a silly question, but we've seen a number of incidents and I'm sure you both have experienced them for some time.

KEOGH: Unfortunately, I think when we look at what has happened with Helen Haines, when we look at the behaviour that was experienced in Minister Beazley's office just yesterday, the really concerning thing, that sort of behaviour that Minister Beazley's office experienced is not isolated. Unfortunately, behaviours like that happen on all too regular a basis in electorate offices around Western Australia and around the country, which is frankly frightening for the staff. But it also places other people who want to come and engage with their Member of Parliament or with the staff of a Member of Parliament at risk as well. And so I would say to people that are ever thinking of behaving like that, not just to an MP or to their staff, but to anybody, there is no place for violence in Australia. And if we think of those two examples, both of them female MPs, there's no place for violence to end anyone. But especially, let's just think about the problem we have with violence against women in Australia. It is not something we can tolerate. We should never be tolerating it. It has to stop. And that's why it's important we also call it out as well. We don't want to be a violent country in any way. And people really need to take a good hard look at themselves if they think that behaviour is in any way acceptable.

JOURNALIST: Just on that - Minister, can I ask you, in a similar line of questioning as a female MP, do you feel like you are targeted differently to male colleagues?

KING: I really don't. I don't know if I am. I don't feel particularly that way. I recognise, like, that Minister Keogh has just said that women are just subject to more violence in our society, and that's shocking. What happened to Helen Haines is one of the most awful things I've ever heard of and sort of seen reported. And I think about it often, seeing that, it's not funny. It's just like, it's just so shocking. Coming to terms with it is quite something. I often say in regard to the resources portfolio, everyone deserves to be able to come home at the end of their shift, go back to their families. Well, Helen Haines sure deserved that. Matt Keogh behind me deserves that. I reckon I deserve that and I reckon every worker does. And everyone in the community gets to go home to their families. So, to your question earlier to Minister Keogh about, you know, what do you say to people? I think some of the people that are focusing on this violence aren't listening to mainstream media, really. And on the other hand, though, you've got some parts of the print media that are producing some of their material to appeal to some of the lesser mainstream media. So, it's this cycle of clickbait that traditional media is feeding non-traditional media. So, I don't know how we get out of this cycle. But what I do know is that in my community of Rockingham, where I was born nearby, grew up here, and I live here today, people are very generous and lovely and thoughtful for the very, very, very most part. And that is what I think, and I'm sure Matt will agree, is what we find consoling in our local communities is that this is unusual times and unusual events and we're glad we have supportive people and communities and staff and families around us.

JOURNALIST: It is a tough thing to battle, right? How do you think practically anyone can go about trying to turn down the temperature?

KING: It is a really good question. Well, I think it's up to each individual and therefore each individual families. If when we're online we see things. Well maybe just don't click on that stuff. And if you've got a brother or an aunt or a son or a daughter or whatever that you see doing that maybe have an honest conversation about that. We've got to let this stuff go sometimes. And I think there's a responsibility on us individually, of course there is, to have a civil discourse. And that's a word we're using a lot. But how do you do it on the Internet and so forth? That is more challenging. I think our traditional media has a very important role to play in thinking about what they are putting out there to contribute to some of the discussion. That can go down some pretty awful rabbit holes in the social media world. The other thing is there is interference, foreign interference in our social media in elections. We've seen that. We've seen that happen in Britain with the brexit referendum, certainly happened in the US system. We see strange, strange things in our own feeds that are certainly not local people, they're not even Australian people. And so that kind of thing, people need to be really critical, hyper critical of what they're reading on social media and delete it.

JOURNALIST: Is it something that Members of Parliament from all parties on state, territory and federal levels should be looking at in terms of what they're putting out to either their members or supporters online as well to not fuel and feed discussions going that way?

KING: Well, I think so. And I mean, we have to disagree. I mean, otherwise what's the point of democracy in politics? But so that's important. And sometimes it can get a bit vocal or a bit funny, but there's satire's important and free speech is important. I think meanness and nastiness, which we see in some of the cartoons designed to be popular, feeds into something that's not really the Australian way or even just the normal human way of decency of dealing with each other. So, I think everyone that publishes anything needs to think about what they're saying to their community, to their supporters, to people who don't support them as well.

JOURNALIST: And then just on another issue, there's been a lot of discussion here in WA over the past few weeks over a possible uni merger. Just wanted to get your thoughts on the business case of being prepared for that and whether or not you think it's a good idea?

KING: Yeah, well I think it's really important that everyone that is interested in the proposal that the government has put forward to engage in it. The universities are created under Western Australian legislation. They are there to serve the benefit of Western Australians, whether that be students, staff, but the wider community that might not work or have attended unis. Those universities are there for each and every Western Australian. So, I would call on everyone, all vice chancellors, all staff, all students to engage in the process and not just shut themselves off from something. Because the truth is our universities results are in decline. We are getting less and less research income, less and less high degree by research students. So, that's the creme de la creme. The best of the best of the smartest people in the country are no longer coming to Western Australia in the numbers that they did. That needs to change. We are having really low completion rates in a couple of the universities. That needs to change. We are losing Western Australian based high school students to the eastern states. I mean it's fine to go but we don't want to do that to continue to be really bad and so that people don't. The best, our best students coming out of high school don't want to study in Western Australia anymore. Incremental change won't fix all of those things. So, something significant has to happen.

JOURNALIST: Do you think a merger is the way to do that?

KING: I think it's one of the ways to do it. But I do think it, it bears an in depth consideration and I really applaud the government for getting involved because the thing about the university sector, and I worked in it for a number of years, is getting state governments to be interested in the university sector is a real challenge. Everyone, every Western Australian should be really pleased that this state government under Roger Cook is interested and actively involved in making the Western Australian system of public universities better. Better because that's better for our state, better for Western Australia.

JOURNALIST: At least two of the universities though who are against this merger don't feel as though they've been consulted and listened to kind of in the lead up to the announcement of this business case and about the idea of a merger.

KING: There was a university review. I would have thought they would have in 2023. I really would have thought the universities would have participated in that. That's what led to the business case we're doing now. I have never heard of a vice chancellor not getting the time they need to discuss matters of urgency. They run very important institutions in our state. I would just urge them to participate and not block off the opportunity for the rest of Western Australia because they think they have to protect something. What we are trying to do, what the state government is trying to do sorry, is to improve a system that needs improving.

JOURNALIST: Thank you.