Radio interview – 6PR Mornings

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
6PR Radio Perth Mornings
Behind Party Lines
Thursday 24 August 2023

GARY ADSHEAD, HOST: Yes, and welcome to both of those gentlemen in the studio. Andrew, good morning. 

SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning to you, Gary and Matthew.

GARY ADSHEAD: And Matthew, how are you?

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: Morning, Gary. Morning, Andrew.

GARY ADSHEAD: Actually, how are you, Matt, because I saw some vision of you on a rowing machine the other day up against someone that probably would go pretty well, I thought.

MINISTER KEOGH: As it turns out it's Andrew's former platoon commander. 

ANDREW HASTIE: One of my patrol commanders. Sergeant, we'll call him Sergeant Adam.

GARY ADSHEAD: This is for Invictus Games. 

MINISTER KEOGH: For Invictus Australia. So two elements of yesterday, first, was seeing off our competitors who are competing in Dusseldorf in September as part of the Invictus World Games and Adam was one of those competitors, and he certainly schooled me in using the rowing machine, that's for sure. I've recovered now though, everybody, it's okay.

ANDERW HASTIE: I've got to say, he looks like a grey beard, though, these days.

GARY ADSHEAD: Hang on, explain.

MINISTER KEOGH: That was just for his benefit, wasn't it? But also, and very importantly, so the Federal Government, you know, we've committed $9 million towards Invictus Australia to support with these games and other competitions, but also for Community Engagement Managers, and the WA one's just started and we were launching that yesterday, which is about connecting veterans that, you know, people leaving Defence with community sport because often when you leave, you know, Andrew's a good example of this, you know? Grew up somewhere else, joined Defence, moved to WA, you come into a community when you leave, and you might not have connections there. And so community sport is a great way of building those connections in the community, building a network around you, supporting veterans in that way, we're very happy to support Invictus Australia and the work they do, and that's unique across the world. The other Invictus organisations don't have that as part of what they do and so we were launching the new WA community engagement management yesterday.

GARY ADSHEAD: Excuse my ignorance, but have we had Invictus Games here, down under?

MINISTER KEOGH: In Australia? Yes.

GARY ADSHEAD: We have had them?

MINISTER KEOGH: In 2018.

GARY ADSHEAD: 2018, was it, right, okay?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yes.

GARY ADSHEAD: Are we sort of likely to get them back again at some point? And is it still all about Prince Harry?

MINISTER KEOGH: Oh, look, the Invictus Games is all about the veterans. That's really what it is all about. And, you know, credit to Harry where it's due, getting that kicked off and getting it the attention that it had, and still has, is really important work. But it's about the veterans. It's about giving that pathway to elite competition for people that have suffered injury as a result of their service for their various defence forces.
But these competitors are also a role model for people with disability, no matter how they've ended up with that disability, across Australia, about the opportunity to get engaged in adaptive sports no matter what their background is and, you know, we were just discussing outside before we came on air, there are local clubs in each of our communities that are all-abilities teams in AFL, for example, giving people the opportunity to participate in a sport they never dreamed of when they actually be able to participate in and Invictus Australia, the work it's doing, connecting veterans, injured or not, to community sport to give them that network in their community as they transition from a Defence life to a civilian life.

GARY ADSHEAD: How important is it for those veterans, Andrew, having gone, you know, the sort of training and the drilling they've gone through and then suddenly they are injured and their whole life's turned upside-down, they need that sort of mission, don't they? They need that sort of resolve to go on and prove they're still capable of things?

ANDREW HASTIE: That's right. That mission, that sense of purpose, the reason to get up in the morning and challenge themselves again is really, really important. So Invictus Games is a great outlet for that, and it would be remiss of me now, Gary, to not plug the Pollie Pedal again, which is raising money for Wandering Warriors. And Matt's counterpart from the UK, veterans Minister, Johnny Mercer, who lost one of his soldiers right in front of him in Afghanistan, he was in a lot of gun fighting over there, he's coming out for the first two days. So Matt's managed to secure that for us, which is great. And 1,000 kilometres, we've got a lot of vets coming and if you're a vet and you want to get fit and you want to see the south-west, please, please sign up for Pollie Pedal.

MINISTER KEOGH: And importantly, as well, raising funds for a veteran charity supporting special forces, families, and veterans across Australia, you know, really worthwhile charity doing good work and this is - whilst I prefer, you know, bicycles that have a motor within them, myself, you know, this is a great endeavour to raise money for this important charity.

ANDREW HASTIE: And for businesses out there, Qantas are sponsoring flights for people from the east coast out to Perth. So if you're looking at getting involved, I can say that Qantas has stepped up to the plate and we're looking for other sponsors well.

GARY ADSHEAD: They give a discount? Do they do a discount, is that what you're saying when you're saying sponsoring?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, sponsoring for jersey rights because we're getting a kit made up and it's a way for them, big corporate Australia to contribute to our veteran community.

GARY ADSHEAD: Alright, now, just on Defence, if I can, because I did promise - I was talking to a lawyer in relation to the sailors who are being represented in terms of this dispute about their training and so on and promises of careers and so on. Now there was a judgment, which was won by the legal team on behalf of these Royal Australian Navy sailors, they're petitioning the Government now, to pay up. What do you say to that? I mean it seems extraordinary that if you get a win in the court that the Government wouldn't just fulfil it?

MINISTER KEOGH: I can't get into, and I'm not across all of the legal detail of the particular case. What I'm aware of what has happened is there is some consideration being given by the insurer, who is acting on behalf of Defence, about whether there's a further appeal to have here or not. But the issue that we've seen in Defence, when these guys were in service and before, where people were not able to get a full training qualification, has been one that has caused a lot of aggravation for people and whilst some might have thought it was a way of keeping people in service longer, we know that it actually led to people leaving service quicker so they could go get that full qualification.
So we've made changes around that and we're making more changes around that to make sure that people can actually get the proper qualification whilst they're serving. It actually keeps them in service longer and we're looking at expanding that as well so that when people leave, whatever their training has been, that they can get recognition for that at a TAFE level, so they don't have to, say, finish the whole course. They get recognition for the bits they've already done in Defence but also at university level as well. So if they've done training, but also taking into account their great experience that they've had in Defence, that there's recognition of that by the university sector for, of that,  prior learning and experience so that they can get their degree qualification quicker as well.
So certainly there have been problems historically, I can't get into the legals of that case, but we have made changes to make it better and we're going to continue to improve it because it is a problem.

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