Radio interview – ABC Perth

NADIA MITSOPOULOS, HOST: Well, today marks the 75th anniversary of the Korean War, a conflict that, as I mentioned, is often referred to as the Forgotten War. And today there's been a national service in Canberra to commemorate that war and acknowledge the efforts of the Australian veterans who were sent there. Matt Keogh is the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs, and he's actually just presented the commemorative address and he is with me now. Minister, good morning and thank you for joining me.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Good morning, Nadia. It's great to be with you.

MITSOPOULOS: Why is the Korean War known as the Forgotten War?

KEOGH: Look, it's an interesting place that it falls, but I guess, you know, hot on the heels, less than five years after the Second World War, it sort of fell into the shadow of that. And then we moved a little while later into the Vietnam War, which took, obviously, a lot of attention, the national psyche. But that's why today, days like today, the 75th anniversary of the commencement of the Korean War, are so important, because the words in the Ode, Lest We Forget, can't just be words. They have to mean something. And when we had 18,000 Australians participate in the Korean War, and there was nearly 1,700 of them from Western Australia, it's important that we take time as the nation to stop and reflect to commemorate that service. If we think about the Korean War, you had an invasion of a sovereign country in South Korea, and 22 countries came under the UN defend South Korea, including Australia. We were the second country to have all three forces engaged in that conflict, and it was an important conflict in defending the sovereignty of South Korea, and important that we today remember the service and sacrifice of those Australians. There were some 340 Australians killed in the Korean War, 34 of them were from Western Australia, and we still have 43 missing in action, six of whom are from Western Australia as well.

MITSOPOULOS: Do you think that there's been a lack of recognition maybe in those early years for the service of those Australians?

KEOGH: I think certainly some veterans from that war have reflected that, you know, they fell into the shadow of the Second World War and that that seemed to get more attention in the immediate aftermath. But what's important now, when we think about a war like the Korean War, which whilst the hot part of the war may be over, and there was an armistice signed in 1953 that there's never been a peace treaty between North and South Korea, and even today, we still have Australians involved in the UN Command patrolling the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea. So, we've been there from the very beginning in terms of a hot conflict and the actual war itself. But we continue to maintain the peace and it underlines the need, the importance of ceasefire arrangements and being vigilant to ensure that those ceasefire arrangements stay in place, and it's important we remember everyone that's been involved in that conflict.

MITSOPOULOS: And was that your message to them in your commemorative address this morning?

KEOGH: It certainly was. That we remember their service, that we honour their service on behalf of our nation and the great service that they provided to the people of South Korea and defending them against an attack from North Korea which was then bolstered by China as well. And that in remembering that service and sacrifice, we recognise not only those that were killed, but the over 1200 people that were injured, those that are still missing in action but we also remember that for those who came home, some bore physical scars, many bore mental scars and of course that's had impacts on them and their families as well. And we recognise and remember not just the service of those involved, but, you know, we thank the families for the support that they've given to their family members involved.

MITSOPOULOS: Matt Keogh is my guest this morning. He's the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans' Affairs. If I could, while I have you just ask you about a couple of other issues. There does seem to be concern, Minister, that people signing up to join the Australian Defence Force are being told it will take 300 days for them to be recruited. Is that true?

KEOGH: Well, that's not really what we're seeing. I mean, certainly if you're signing up to go to ADFA, so that's to go to university, most of the people signing up for that are doing that early in year 12, for example. Obviously, they're not going to enlist until they start their service the following year, because that follows a university timeline. But for many other roles, and there's over 200 different roles that we're recruiting into, whether that's Officers going into ADFA, whether that's diesel mechanics that we need operating on our naval vessels, whether it's the new roles that we've created around our nuclear propelled submarines to come in the future. We can and we do bring in people much more quickly than that. It is quite role dependent. Some roles we need to bring in quickly, other roles there is more of a lag because of either where the study timetable fits for when they commence or because we've got a lot more people interested in those particular roles and we have to space them out. But overall, we are looking to improve that timeliness to make sure that no matter what the role is, that people are looking to join our Defence Force in that they are able to go from expressing interest through the processes, through the various checks, through to enlistment as quickly as possible. And we're really happy to see that, you know, we're on track to have one of our largest enlistment years in a very long time.

MITSOPOULOS: How many? How many are you looking at?

KEOGH: So, we're on track to have just under 6,000 join the Defence Force this financial year, so around 5,900, which will be the biggest in a long time. And along with that, we have maintained a much higher retention rate. So, the attrition rate in the Defence Force is now the lowest it's been in many years. It's less than 9%. So, what we're seeing now is, for the first time in years, the Defence Force is growing in number. That's important. We're just ahead of where we plan to be for this year. So, that's good. And we're on track for what we need to be able to do over the next five or so years to make sure that we're growing the Defence Force to provide the capability that we need in these increasingly uncertain geostrategic times.

MITSOPOULOS: Well, let's talk about that. Matt Keogh is my guest. He's the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans' Affairs. And I just wonder, you, like all of us, are watch very closely what is unfolding in the Middle East. I just wonder what your reflections are this morning, Minister, and whether you think that ceasefire between Israel and Iran, you know, might hold.

KEOGH: Well, certainly we're all looking for it to hold. Bringing an end to what we've seen over the last week or so happening between Iran and Israel is incredibly important. We did not want to see that escalate in any way. Having a ceasefire, which seems to have started, and we want to see that hold is incredibly important. And I think all world leaders are calling for that and calling for restraint from both sides. And I know that'll be a key focus for the region and for others that are engaged in that process to call on Israel and Iran to exercise restraint and to abide by that ceasefire.

MITSOPOULOS: Is the government concerned at all about those reports that those U.S. attacks on Iran may not have obliterated their nuclear capability?

KEOGH: Well, I think what's really important there is that the US attack on Iran, which was focused on their nuclear capabilities, has at the very least set them back substantially from where they were. It was never going to be acceptable to the global community that Iran obtained a nuclear weapon. Ensuring that that didn't occur is incredibly important. That's what the United States action was about. And obviously over time we'll see the full extent of what the attack that the United States conducted on Iran is. But it has certainly set Iran back from being able to acquire nuclear weaponry a fair way. And that's incredibly important.

MITSOPOULOS: And no need for any real Australian involvement.

KEOGH: Australia is not involved in that process at all. And it's not, you know, that is not our primary focus. It's not our primary focus area. We are very much focused on our region, maintaining stability in our region and that's what we'll continue to do. Alright.

MITSOPOULOS: Good to talk to you. I appreciate you giving us some time this morning.

KEOGH: Thanks, Nadia. Great to be with you.

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