Doorstop interview, Port Kennedy RSL, WA

E&OE transcript
Doorstop interview
Port Kennedy RSL, WA

MINISTER KING: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm really pleased to be here at the Port Kennedy RSL in the southern suburbs of Rockingham in the Southern Metropolitan area of Western Australia. Here with Minister Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. We've been here today talking to the veteran community of all of Rockingham and Kwinana and especially around Port Kennedy and Secret Harbour, about the commitment of the Albanese Government to the Veterans’ and Families’ Hub.

And the purpose for the Veterans’ and Families’ Hub to be created here in Brand is about an integrated approachable core of services that are available for veterans that have, you know, served our country, are transitioning out of service and now need some assistance in that transition to a hopefully productive, normal, prosperous life outside of the service. And it's the least we can do as a Government to pay the respects that veterans deserve, to make sure they get the help they deserve, because many veterans, of course, as we know, have witnessed extraordinary things; they've had to undertake extraordinary work, and their injuries are not always seen, but they are certainly felt by those veterans and their families, themselves.

So I'm very grateful for Minister Keogh for spending time here today in Port Kennedy, and I'm really exceptionally grateful for the community of veterans here in Rockingham, one of the highest, if not the highest veterans communities in the country, because of course we host the biggest Naval Base in the country here at Garden Island.

So with that, I'll hand over to Minister Keogh to talk a bit more about the Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs Program.

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, thanks Madeleine. It's great to join a Ministerial colleague in doing the work around our Veterans’ and Families’ Hub network that we're rolling out across Australia. We committed to 10 of these Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs at the Election and funded them in our October Budget. And right here in the southern suburbs of Perth, in the area around Rockingham, right next to Australia's largest naval base, we'll be rolling out a new Veterans’ and Families’ Hub, a $5 million commitment to the local veterans and families community here in the Electorate of Brand.

The important thing about these Hubs, it's about bringing together the coordination of services, making them available in a place that is welcoming to veterans and welcoming to families, and recognising as part of that the importance of families, in that they need support too, but also they are critical to making sure that our veterans are able to access the supports and the services that they may also require, whether they're contemporary veterans looking to gain employment in civilian life, whether they are veterans of a past era and past conflicts, who may need further assistance in dealing with claims or accessing further services to make sure they're also able to live their best lives as a veteran who has served our community, served our country, made sure that they've been able to stand up for our national interest, and that is why it's so important that we repay that debt as a Government and as a country, making sure they're able to access the services that they not just need, but frankly they deserve to be able to have access to.

I really want to thank the Port Kennedy RSL, as well as the Kwinana and Rockingham RSLs who joined us today, and the veteran community for sharing their stories and providing their input into the sorts of services, the sorts of things that should be considered for a hub right here in this community, because what we want to deliver as a Government is not a cookie‑cutter approach to Hubs across the country, but making sure that the Hub will be delivered here in the southern suburbs of Perth, around Rockingham, will meet the needs of the veteran community here. And with over 8,000 serving personnel and veterans in this community, the second highest concentration of veterans in the country, the highest concentration in Western Australia, we look forward to rolling out over this year the selection process for a proponent, and then being able to move forward with a business case, and into developing a family and veterans Hub for the community here in Brand, servicing the veterans and families, as well as supporting serving personnel in making sure they get access to the coordination of services that they need to have successful and fulfilling lives as civilians as they transition out of Defence and supporting not just those serving personnel and veterans, but their families as well.

JOURNALIST: Just a couple of questions about the NDIS. Would you agree that unless the Government gets on top of the NDIS budget, the ability to fund programs like those helping local veterans will be at risk in years to come? 

MINISTER KEOGH: I want to be very clear that there's no risk to the funding for this Veterans’ and Families’ Hub here in Brand or across the country as part of the program that we are rolling out. And of course we've inherited a situation where there are growing cost pressures on the NDIS, and I know that the Minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, is working with State colleagues as well, to make sure that we are able to deliver the services that people with disability require and that we're able to do that in a sustainable funding way while making sure that they get the services they need.

The funding for the veterans programs, the Families’ and Veterans’ Hubs is under no risk.

JOURNALIST: And do you think that we may have no choice but to start making NDIS participants contribute to it through co‑payments or make it means‑tested as suggested by the IMF yesterday? 

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I've seen that there's been some commentary from the IMF about the great position that the Albanese Government has now delivered through the October Budget in making sure that we have a grown‑up approach to delivering programs, to funding them, and making sure that we can deliver a prosperous economy for Australians that can get access to the services they need; whether they're people with disability, whether they're veterans, whether they’re families, and I know that Bill Shorten, as the Minister for NDIS, and the work that he's doing with his State counterparts as well, will absolutely ensure that that's the outcome, that people get the services that they need, and we do that in a sustained funding way.

JOURNALIST: I also wanted to know, what sort of impact do you think The Voice to Parliament will have on mining companies? 

MINISTER KING: Well, mining companies, our two biggest mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP absolutely support The Voice, and I really welcome their support. I have no doubt that more mining companies will come on board as we talk to them more about what The Voice means.

What we know is that the resources sector, and those mining companies have the greatest interaction with Traditional Owners and the land of Traditional Owners. So they've been engaged for many years with the Indigenous peoples of this country, and coming to agreements with them and working with them, and they're the highest employer of Indigenous people in this country too.

So I have called upon mining companies publicly to support The Voice, and I call upon them again today, because it's a generous offer for the Indigenous people of this country, through the Uluru Statement From the Heart; it's the least we can do to let them have a Voice to this Parliament.

JOURNALIST: Thank you, that's all I had.

JOURNALIST: Minister Keogh, can you please step me through the consultation process for the Hubs?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yeah, okay. So there was an online consultation process that commenced last year, so it was like an online meeting opportunity, we're then rolling out meetings like this around the different communities in person, hearing from the local veteran community about the sorts of services that they want to see going in to this, and then there's an engagement process, where the DVA will engage with people who put their hand up to say that they would like to be a potential provider of the Hub. Then we’ll look through the assessments, looking at if those organisations appropriately reflect connection to the veterans community, that they engage with different service organisations, and part of the funding guidelines requires whoever does come into it, has to have those connections to either be an ex‑service organisation or have connections with and work together with an ex‑service organisation to make sure that there's a constant feedback stream as part of operating the Hub, to service veterans.

JOURNALIST: So it's fair to say it will probably be a lengthy process, but a worthwhile one?

MINISTER KEOGH: We should be able to identify the organisations that will be the operator of these Hubs by the end of the year. There may be a few exceptions to that, but that's what we’re targeting, and then it will be a process around identifying locations and standing up the Hubs.

JOURNALIST: Perfect. Cool. Thank you.

[END]

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608