Press conference - Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program Announcement, AIHW Defence Suicide Monitoring Report, Kapooka Incident, Unsafe Interaction with People’s Liberation Army-Navy

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE 
WAGGA WAGGA
TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2023

Subjects: Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program Announcement, AIHW Defence Suicide Monitoring Report, Kapooka Incident, Unsafe Interaction with People’s Liberation Army-Navy

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: Well, good morning everybody. It’s great to be here, and I’m very proud to be here making an announcement that really demonstrates the commitment of the Albanese Labor Government to supporting our veterans and families. Today we are announcing grants worth nearly $17 million across 21 projects around the country. To support veterans and families in a way that really builds on the program that we developed for Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs. We took those as a commitment to the last election, but we also recognised the need to support service providers, ex-service organisations around the country, to enhance the way in which they’re able to provide service and support to veterans and families on the ground. And we’ve seen with the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide that we can’t just wait; we’ve got to take action. And this program is all about that.

We’ve gone around identifying programs that were basically ready to go, that ex-service organisations and veterans support organisations had been saying to Government, “We’ve got good projects that if we can get support, we’ll be able to enhance the service provision, the support, the different innovative opportunities that they’ve developed to be able to provide that support in veteran communities around Australia.”

And here in Wagga, across the Riverina, we’ve got over 5,000 current serving personnel and veterans and their families on top of that. So, we know that supporting veterans in this community is really important. And, of course, I know that also because I’ve got people like Macca here who are always talking to me about it. And that’s important as well – that MPs are standing up for their communities and talking to Government about the need to make sure that we support our veterans. And we absolutely recognise that.

And so here in Wagga and in the Riverina, we’re committing to two projects. We’ll be delivering funding of over $1.7 million to the New South Wales RSL LifeCare Wellbeing Hub here for the Riverina as well as to Pro Patria. That’s going to enhance the services that the New South Wales LifeCare Wellbeing Centre is able to provide to veterans and families here in Wagga and it’s going to enhance the work that Pro Patria does by giving them the opportunity of a multipurpose facility as well as a veterans shed, which is a bit like a Men’s Shed for people familiar with those, which is an innovative way of bringing people together. Because we know that those social opportunities are so very important in being able to provide care and support for the veteran community and for families as well.

So, these are two great projects that we’re really happy to be supporting through this grant program that we’re rolling out today. It’s going to enhance the service provision, the support here in Wagga and across the Riverina, and across the country with nearly $17 million of grant programs. And it’s a great demonstration of the way in which our Government is committed to delivering a better future for veterans and families, making sure they get the support not just that they need but, frankly, that they deserve as well.

I’ll let Michael say a few words as well.

MEMBER FOR RIVERINA, MICHAEL MCCORMACK: Well, welcome, Matt Keogh, to Wagga Wagga. We’ve turned on the weather for you but thank you for your Government’s commitment to our city, to our region and to our veterans in particular. Pro Patria and RSL LifeCare work so hard for our community and have done so for such a long time. And they deserve this. They need it, and they will put the money to good use. Rest assured, as you’ve just said, there are thousands of current serving uniformed personnel here in Wagga Wagga. We’re the only inland regional centre with all three arms of the Defence – Army, Air Force and Navy – even though we’re a long, long way from the nearest drop of seawater. But not only that, we’ve got a huge veterans’ community – thousands of veterans who call Wagga Wagga home, who love the Riverina, who need and deserve and expect the very best of care after their service is done. And thanks to this initiative, thanks to this funding, Pro Patria and RSL LifeCare will be able to continue to provide that support and that service.

I also want to thank all of you for turning out today. I know how much this means to you. Each and every one of you and collectively, you’ve done so much volunteering, so much work, so many efforts have gone into making sure that these two Wellbeing Wellness Centres are off the ground and the community has been so philanthropic. They’ve been so giving, so generous, but that’s the Wagga Wagga way. And now with this support from the Commonwealth, that can only add to the services that, indeed, Pro Patria and RSL have provided and will continue to provide.

So, thank you Matt. Welcome to our city. I’m sure you’ll find very friendly veterans, people who certainly are cognizant of the fact that you’ve come here today to make this announcement. And I do thank you earnestly and honestly on behalf of the citizens of Wagga Wagga and, indeed, the wider region. Because this funding is important. This funding is deserved, and you’ve come good. So, thank you very much.

RSL LIFECARE SPOKESPERSON, DAVID ANDERSON: Good morning, everybody. I’m Dave Anderson, RSL LifeCare Executive General Manager for Veterans’ Services. I just want to say thank you to the Albanese Government and the Minister for this opportunity. I think that for both organisations this is a fantastic opportunity to improve our level of services for veterans in the community. Both organisations do some great work, and I just see that with these – with this funding we’ll be able to do an even better job for the veterans in this community. So, thank you.

PRO PATRIA SPOKESPERSON, JACQUI VAN DE VELDE: Good morning, everybody. My name is Jacqui Van de Velde, I’m one of the board members of the Pro Patria Centre. Look, there is two important points I’d like to raise this morning: first of all, thank you, thank you, Minister, thank you, Matt. Thank you to the Albanese Government. This is a huge endorsement of the work that we are doing at Pro Patria. It’s a boost in morale for our 100 per cent volunteer organisation and to every member of the community who has supported us financially or in kind. So pat yourselves on the back. We’re well on the way.

But, secondly, materially, this grant means that we can bring forward our plans to house the Defence Shed in Wagga Wagga on-site with us. And we know that training and education and also pathways to meaningful work are brilliant ways of protected factors for mental health and physical health, apart from all the social connections. So we’re delighted. We’re going to have our skates on because it’s a massive project that we need to get organised. But we are absolutely thrilled, and we welcome anybody to come and visit us at any time. So, thank you very much for your interest.

JOURNALIST: The AIHW has released its report into suicide rates amongst ex-serving ADF members, which shows figures haven’t changed over the past three years. What do you make of their findings?

MINISTER KEOGH: So the first thing I’d say of these findings is that, you know, every suicide that we see in the Defence or veteran community is a tragedy. And that’s why we called for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide because we recognised how important it was that we get on top of this very serious issue. And the statistics we’ve seen in the report that’s been released today, there’s been a report like this come out every year for the last few years. That’s what they’ve been commissioned to do, so that we are keeping front of mind how we’re seeing this issue develop. And unfortunately, we haven’t seen a significant change. The data from this particular report goes up to 2021. And so obviously it doesn’t pick up the things that have happened in the last few years.

But what’s really important is we see here when we get into the data and being able to understand where we see the key focus of work that needs to happen. I know that’s a focus for the Royal Commission itself, looking at that data and understanding where we see the highest degree of prevalence of suicide across the Defence and veteran community so we can best understand that and know where we need to best focus our efforts.

So, it's an absolute tragedy what we’re seeing in the data but making sure we are getting these reports on a regular basis so we can best understand the nature of the problem is really important.

JOURNALIST: Is that part of the reason why this announcement was made today?

MINISTER KEOGH: The announcement – the timing, I guess, is interesting because what we’re trying to do here with announcements like this, with the programs that we’re trying to fund both through our Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs, through these programs that we’re supporting through these 21 projects that are funded that we’ve announced today, is all about enhancing the wellbeing of the entire veteran community. And I think it is important to remember that not all veterans are suffering from mental health problems or other issues, but they do need support, or they want social connection, they want to be able to come together, or their family’s needs. So there’s a wide variety of thing that services like Pro Patria and RSL LifeCare and so many others are engaged in supporting our veterans in.

But ultimately we want to bring that suicide rate down as well. And it’s really important we have these reports coming out regularly so that we can see where we need to focus those efforts as well.

JOURNALIST: Ex-serving females are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than Australian females adjusting for age. What do you make of that statistic?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I think that’s a statistic that, for example, I know the Royal Commission is particularly interested in trying to understand. It is coming off a much smaller cohort, as you’ll appreciate, within Defence. We do need to increase the proportion of women that we have serving in our Defence Force. But obviously this reflects some broader issues across that cohort that we need to get under - to understand what’s causing that. That’s why we called for the Royal Commission, because it’s complex stuff that we’re trying to get to the bottom of to understand. That’s why we’re really looking forward to getting the Royal Commission’s final report next year. We got their interim report in August last year. September we accepted those recommendations. We’ve taken action now an all of those 13 recommendations that came from the interim report from the Royal Commission. We now really need that final report next year so we can get on with the job of dealing with those issues.

JOURNALIST: And we understand there was an incident of self-harm at Kapooka last week. Are you aware of it and, if so, are you able to tell us a bit about it?

MINISTER KEOGH: I am aware that there was an incident at Kapooka last week, and I know that person is still in hospital and being treated for that. And obviously we’re providing him, his family and, of course, all the people that were there at the time that that occurred with all the appropriate support to make sure that they get the support that they need. [Indistinct] I can’t add anything else to that.

JOURNALIST: What do you make of China’s response to the navy incident? They say our accusations are reckless and irresponsible.

MINISTER KEOGH: I’m aware that they’ve made that comment. I think the Defence Minister was very clear in his remarks about this incident at the end of last week. What we saw occur in relation to HMAS Toowoomba was unprofessional conduct and it has the potential to cause harm to our personnel, which, as the Minister for Defence Personnel, is my primary responsibility. And that’s really concerning what we’ve seen happen there. And we don’t revile from our description of what’s occurred.

JOURNALIST: From your perspective, is Australia’s relationship with China back on shaky ground?

MINISTER KEOGH: I think we’ve seen our relationship with China move forward in significant steps over the last few months not only with the Prime Minister’s visit to China but also the regularisation of trade with China in areas that we have seen – that we saw become quite problematic over the last few years. Obviously, this is not a step – a forward step in that relationship. But obviously, we’ll continue to engage because what we are committed to is stability in our region and making sure that we have positive relationships across the region so that we can make sure that we not only maintain our own security but security across the region for the region and for our prosperity.

JOURNALIST: Should the PM reveal whether he raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart?

MINISTER KEOGH: I think the Prime Minister’s been clear and we’ve been clear that this issue has been raised with China. They are very clear about our position in relation to what occurred. Okay?

JOURNALIST: One more question I’ll ask if you don’t mind, is that ok?

MINISTER KEOGH: Sure

JOURNALIST: So, we heard from Pro Patria about what this funding will be going towards. On the ground, obviously this is a big amount of money. What will it actually do for the people of the Wagga community?

DAVID ANDERSON: So, with our Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre, which is only a few doors up the road, it will go towards some significant improvements within the centre to improve the veterans’ experience. So things like improving the ability to have private consultations, more teleconferencing opportunities. But also to create bigger social connection opportunities with veterans and families, because we’re finding that these days many veterans are being brought into the centres - around our different centres - by their family. So it's important for us to continue to improve those social connections.

JOURNALIST: A question for both of you - Well, I mean, it’s very simple. How much did he badger you about this, and how much did you badger him about this?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK: Careful, now.

MINISTER KEOGH: Look, Michael’s not an orphan; many Members of Parliament have been discussing with me the sorts of services that they would like to see or that they would like to see enhanced in their local community to support their local serving and veteran community. And in the program that we created here we made sure that we identified services that had projects that were ready to go, that we weren’t going to be sort of creating a program and then seeing this lag of years while people sort of worked out what was going on. The need for action is now. We see that from the Royal Commission. We see that from the Health and Welfare Report that’s come out today.

And so, I was aware of these projects. Michael has been talking to me about these services in his community and MPs have been talking to me about services across their communities as well and regularly. And he has invited me out to visit, and I really appreciated that. So, it’s a great honour for me, my first visit to Wagga Wagga, to be able to visit these services as well as making the announcement here today.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK: It’s Matt’s first visit to Wagga; I hope it’s not his last because certainly he knows and understands that this is a tri-service city. He knows and understands that this is a city which is home to many, many veterans. And, yes, I did badger him. That is the job of a Member unfortunately in Opposition. And I know that we made a commitment prior to the election to support the veterans in our city. That commitment has gone part of the way to being honoured today, and look, I thank Matt very much and the Government for what they’ve done. This is going to make – as Pro Patria and RSL have just indicated – the world of difference to the efforts that they are going to backed up by volunteers, backed up by people who give up their time freely and often to support veterans, to support colleagues in this city.

So I do thank Matt. I do thank the Government for what they’ve done. And Matt is a Minister who right from the very get-go reached out to me knowing the importance of military to Wagga Wagga and wanted to have a briefing and wanted to have a discussion about what was needed in this city. So I do appreciate the fact that he is a Minister who does very much get down to the nitty-gritty of his portfolio, and I appreciate his visit today. And I look forward to going to – with him – to Pro Patria and to RSL and having a look at what they’ve already – what they’re already providing on the ground and how much better they’ll enhance that with this financial commitment today.

JOURNALIST: Thank you very much.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK: Pleasure.

ENDS

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