WEBVTT - Paul Murray Live | 9 September 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:06.480 From the Skyinging Center. This is Paul Murray Life. Well, 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:08.560 said Dylan, We're going to Monday night. Lots to get to. 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.319 Let's get straight to the news that I am sad 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.560 to say that the person police believe responsible for that 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.440 horrific attack on little Luca, the little Bubba we told 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.520 you about a couple of weeks ago. Well, they now 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.239 believe that this bloke has actually fled the country. Thankfully, 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.520 Luca is up and walking, smiling, cuddling with mum and dad. 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:30.600 His scarring will be lifelong. He is an in and 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:32.519 out of hospital over the next few weeks with a 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.880 collection of skin grafts. But we were told there was 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.800 going to be a major announcement today from the police 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.720 in Queensland and this is what they told us. It's 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:43.760 not what any of us wanted to hear. We wanted 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.440 to hear that this person apparently had been found, identified 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.680 and arrested, but Alas apparently got out of the country 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:51.280 pretty quick. 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.240 Subsequent inquiries have identified that a person has left Australia 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:00.320 and the QPS are working closely with our partner, both 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.920 national and international law enforcement agency to get this to progress, 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:06.800 this investigation further. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.880 So Okay, now we go from the Queensland focus to 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:11.760 an international one. How does that work. 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.560 It's still very much alive investigation and any information provided 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.960 to where that person may be will jeopardize the further 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:22.800 inquiries we're making. 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.000 Now we're in a strange moment here because we are 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.200 not actually supposed to know the name of the baby, 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.560 because it is a victim of crime, and a victim 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:34.640 of crime under the age of eighteen. Therefore, you are 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.600 the theory is you don't identify the victim because that 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.759 will will follow them for the rest of their life. 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.480 But you're also not supposed to identify the apparent perpetrator 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:48.480 because that too may well end up identifying the victim. Now, 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.680 clearly we're in a scenario now where the parents have 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.360 made it very clear what the name of their baby is, 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:55.800 and Luca's name has been out on social media as 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.720 released by the family. Clearly, the images that we have 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.520 seen in the moments after the attack, and frankly for 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.200 the past few weeks it's just been this one or 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.239 two photos. Now, the police seemed very obvious that the 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.600 person who they've been showing in and around their photos, well, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:12.600 it started off for somebody to help with inquiries, and 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.400 now it seems to be the main focus of the inquiry. 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.040 The police need to name who this person is. We 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.079 need to know the details because pretty obviously the technology 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.560 exists to be able to take a face of somebody 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.760 and run it through all of the different computers that 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.280 the world has to be able to work out if 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.600 he was a tourist, Well, did he come here via 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.639 a passport? The passport image will have been captured somewhere 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:41.280 because you can't get into the country without scanning your passport. Now, 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:45.400 if the law is so dense that it can't be changed, 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.200 then I am asking the Queensland Government to find a 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.040 way through the Parliament to be able to even if 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.400 we need to pass an individual piece of legislation to 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.760 identify this one single person, Let's do it. Because I 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.840 want to know this bloke's name. I want to tell 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:04.200 you this bloke's name. I want everyone in Queensland who 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.960 may not know the image but know the name, to 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:11.120 know this bloke's name. Now again, I am being responsible 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:14.079 because I know there's all sorts of speculation that will 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.080 exist on social media. I'm not going to echo that 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.239 here because our own legal advice is the rules of 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.520 Queensland and is the rules generally speaking about the identification 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:28.520 of both alleged perpetrator and obvious victim. Now, it is 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.080 a disgrace that this bloke has been able to leave 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.800 the country. As I say, if he was a resident 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.680 of Queen's Land, then there should be a greater digital 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:39.000 footprint for us to have greater information. If he was 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.120 a tourist in the country and therefore was always planning 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.000 to leave, again, the entry and exit information should be 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.720 made public. Now. Police today were going to some lengths 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.280 to pretend to say that they couldn't tell us what 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.000 was going on because they didn't want this person to 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.000 know that they were on the tail. Bugger that it 0:03:58.040 --> 0:03:59.880 is time for the world to know this man's name. 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.040 It must be done legally and if that requires a 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.520 special Act of the Parliament, do it. There's still a 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.840 few days before the Parliament will rise and then we 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.520 start to turn our attention towards the election. This is 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:14.560 more important than the run to the election, is to 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.479 know who this person is. Strength and love to Luca 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.600 as always and Luca's family. We will continue to update 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.560 because all of us want the person responsible for this 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.599 to be caught. And if that means that his name 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.640 is known and social media is able to use correct 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:37.520 language from official sources, good fine by me. Now let's 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:39.320 take a little bit of time to actually go through 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.159 the report that came out today, the Royal Commission report, 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.880 which you've been going for some years into veteran suicide. Now, 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:47.880 you know, as long term viewers of the program, we've 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.800 been talking about this for as long as we've had 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.480 access to a television camera or microphone. I spoke about 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.320 it a lot on radio, written about in the paper. 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.640 You know that I share your love of everyone who 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:01.760 defends the country, and I share the tragedy of those 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.200 who end up taking their own lives after serving their country. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:07.840 In fact, it was years ago, now, I believe it 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.359 or not, when the women who were brave enough to 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.040 stand up and ask for a form of accountability out 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:17.720 of governments, the Department of Veterans Affairs and so many others. 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.520 Way back twenty nineteen is when we had all those 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.280 mums around the table talking about their boys, talking about 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.080 the system that broke their boys, and talking about a 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.200 system that broke their boys even after they had left 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.599 the service. Today, one of the Royal Commissioners Nick CAWLSS, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:35.479 a man who should have been a police commissioner but 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:38.279 thankfully was not, so his work was able to be 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.320 in this area. He has presented a massive report, six 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.720 different volumes, incredible detail in all of it, and he 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:46.880 is in part what he had to say about that 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.400 massive volume of effort. This is where I've been spending 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:51.800 most of my day to day, not all the way 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.120 through it, and I'll bring him more tomorrow, but this 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.559 is why he reflects on the importance of this report 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.080 and why it's one of those moments where the nation 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:00.960 has to stand still pay attention. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.400 Well, when there's been dozens of inquiries and hundreds of recommendations, 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.160 I'd say that's a failure and leadership. What is clear 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:11.880 from some of the horrible stories that we've heard is 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.240 that many people simply turn the blind eye over many 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.960 years and felt that it was too hard. We feel 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.840 that unless there is an entity with enough power and 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.919 resources to tackle the problems, they're simply going to persist. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:26.839 You can't keep doing the same thing over and over 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.279 again and expect the result to come out different. 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.360 The report concludes that there have been twelve hundred suicides 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.039 in the lead up to the Royal Commission. There are 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:37.719 other stats in there again, I'll bring them to you 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.040 tomorrow night. But amazingly, again, one of the co commissioners 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.720 told us that the majority of people that have taken 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.840 their own lives didn't actually end up going to war, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.040 which means they've been traumatized while being in the service 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:50.760 and in the country. 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:56.479 It certainly is a misconception. People associate suicide with the 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:02.040 experience of PTSD alone coming from combat experiences. That's not 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.480 actually what we're finding. What we're finding is there is 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.120 a lot of trauma and a lot of exposure to trauma, 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:11.480 but it's trauma through the cumulative effects of what they 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.160 experienced day in and day out through service and into 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:16.920 their post service life. 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:18.080 So it's not. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.239 Combat related, but it is trauma related. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.480 That's really important. Now, there are all sorts of findings 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:26.800 here that are more than one hundred and twenty of them. 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.960 I think all of them seem incredibly reasonable to me, 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.600 and they should be already being adopted by the government. 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.720 But I'll get to that in a second. But again, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.480 rather than just brush over it and then move on 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.440 to the next subject and get into the red meat 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.320 of the team red, team blue. Let's actually pay respect 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:46.360 to those that have taken their own lives, respect to 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:50.200 the mothers who made this Royal Commission happen, and respect 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.760 to the need and the work of this Royal Commission 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.760 to actually have a look at what it has recommended. Now, 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.160 I'm not going to sit here and read under twenty 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.480 recommendations to you, but there are going to be a few, 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.240 so have a look here. Believe the Defense should take 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:05.680 steps to mitigate adverse impacts of posting. So when you 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:10.320 move families around all the time, what are the difficulties 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.160 that appear for the families? What precious does that put 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:18.960 on the soldiers? Great recommendation recommendation five support serving members 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:23.680 is to decompress, rest and regenerate, especially after high risk experiences. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.560 These high risk experiences could be everything from live fire 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.679 training exercises all the way through to war. Excellent recommendation 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.080 seven is to increase the employment opportunities of members of 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.920 the Defense Force in other parts of the Defense Force. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.760 So if you go from being a soldier, then there 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.040 should be an opportunity for you to find work within 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.439 the Defense Force rather than just being forced to choose 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.040 between being an active service member and somebody who is 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.760 working in service of other service members. That is an 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:03.360 excellent recommendation. Recommendation eleven, it assesses of the Australian Defense 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:09.400 Force leadership has to start hearing about their role in culture, 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:14.120 health and well being. And importantly they have to start 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.080 listening to the people below them, and the people below 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.720 them should have greater power in helping to decide who 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:25.280 moves up the ranks. So rather than just people moving 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.880 up the ranks because they're good politicians inside the organization, 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.040 are they good people? Are they good leaders of men 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:37.560 and women? Recommendation twelve, consider the emotional intelligence of people 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.360 as they move up through the organization. Again, you know, 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.560 just hire the person who's going to follow the rule 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.320 book and implement the policy from the current level of 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:49.720 brass or do what the government wants. You promote people 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.600 who have the support of the people below them, who 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.600 have the caring and the understanding and the emotional capacity 0:09:55.880 --> 0:10:01.760 to continue to move up the leadership ranks. Nineteen. Protect 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.480 victims of sexual misconduct inside the service and make sure 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:09.520 that there are absolutely no consequences to their career for 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.080 speaking up. Now there are plenty of examples of people 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.559 who don't speak up because they're afraid that that will 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:17.520 effectively in their career and they will stay at the 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.080 rank that they currently are. We need to have a 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.960 scenario where the person who tells the truth about what 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.200 is happening to them or has been happening to them 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.160 and whom did it is given the capacity to move up. 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:33.240 And rather than the old network protecting itself and making 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.920 sure that people who complain are trouble makers and pushed 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.440 out the side door, know that shouldn't be the case. 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.480 That should be written into the law. Recommendation twenty two 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.240 is to adopt a policy of mandatory discharge for any 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.760 member of the Australian Defense Force who is convicted of 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.839 sexual or related offenses, no second chances, no other ways around. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.040 I'm not talking about minor stuff. We're talking about making 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.280 sure that once it is proven that you have done 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.320 wrong by your fellow member of the Defense Force in 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:06.200 those areas, out the door goodbye. Of course, obviously, whoever 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.120 goes out the door, they should also have the levels 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.800 of emotional support to make sure that they too don't 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.040 end up in a scenario where they go from sort 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.760 of rooster to feather duster in a day, and everyone 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:19.200 doesn't look the take care of them. But you get 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.640 my point. Recommendation thirty nine this is important because I 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.000 want to respect the work of the Royal Commission. I 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:26.720 know you care about it. I know you can follow 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.080 the detail. Thank you for being patient as I go 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.400 through this, but it really matters. Recommendation thirty nine is 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:37.360 to address the risk factors of suicide and suicideality and 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.679 report progress as part of this in and around the 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:45.480 Defense Force. So suicide and awareness of it, awareness of 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.680 what the warning signs might be, and the process of 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.920 make sure that we can capture people before they go 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:55.160 down a very dark path. Excellent Idea forty two ensure 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.120 that future inspector generals of the ADF are not from 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:02.200 the ADF. Obviously, I don't want a bunch of identitarians 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.760 and lifetime public servants trying to turn the Defense Force 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.200 into a woke version of the Tax Office with guns. 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.520 I get it. But if part of the problem is 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.800 the culture, the way to break the culture is you've 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.439 got to bring somebody in from outside on top of 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.679 the process, so that regardless of whose mates with who 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:20.880 and who owes who a favor that the right thing 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:25.120 is done. The Inspector General should automatically be able to 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:30.480 investigate the deaths of by suicide of serving members. So 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.080 again this doesn't just go off automatically, and it still 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.240 goes to a coronial process, but the ADF doesn't get 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.360 to say, sorry, wipe our hands, not our problem anymore. 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.760 Now it's a state police matter because someone did something 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:45.000 under a bridge. Excellent. Excellent idea forty eight. When a 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:49.480 memberdize by suicide, legal officers to represent the interests of 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.040 that person and their family are appointed by the ADF, 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.359 so it's not just your family that's fighting the bureaucracy. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.880 You essentially have sort of a lawyer on your behalf, 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.200 a legal aid paid for by the taxpayer person to 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.480 help traverse the process because normal people obviously are not 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:11.319 equipped to be able to go up against the giant 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:15.000 bureaucracies and the cultures in and around the Defense Force. 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.640 I think that's very close to the best of all 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:24.160 of the recommendations. There also should be the establishment of 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.800 a brain injury program because the reality is that, as 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.959 we know, there are consequences when people play high contact 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.240 sport and may well go on to have issues with 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.920 their brains that may well result in mental illness and 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.600 a noise and a frustration that means they eventually end 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.760 up taking their own life. The same should be there 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:44.600 for the members of the Defense Force. They need to 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.560 improve the access and timelines of quality mental health screening. 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.080 So this stuff needs to be as important to the 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:56.000 Defense Force as the physical preparedness of the Defense Force. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:14:00.800 Your mental health matters. The Department of Veters Affairs should 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.679 be able to fund a program to support well being 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.080 in the transition from your time in the Defense Force 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.080 to civilian life. Now, I am a little surprised that 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.200 in many of the recommendations there is no plan to 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.520 blow up and restart the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:18.800 my view, the Department of Veterans Affairs has shown itself 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.920 to be like a private insurance company. Do its best 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.240 to delay as long as possible, do its best to 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.360 deny no even if you've served the country for a day. 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.480 I say role gold treatment for every single one of 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.160 the brave men and women who decide to put the 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:38.560 uniform on another one. Increase the opportunities for members to 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:44.000 gain civilian qualifications from defense training and education. So rather 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:46.080 than just saying on your CV X number of years 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.720 in the ADF, here are the things that I've done, 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.320 start to put a qualification next to it, so I 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.200 know that you can do your service and do extra education. Well, 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.040 why not the stuff you learn in the Defense Force 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.080 counts as the the same sorts of things that would 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.320 result with you getting a trade certificate or a university degree. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:09.479 Again excellent eighty five develop employment pathways for ex servicemen 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:14.280 and women in the public sector. What a great idea. Again, 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:16.480 once you go from being an active service member, if 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.600 there's not a job for you somewhere inside the ADF, 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:20.520 then why not try to find a way to use 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:25.240 these skills in the wider public service. Excellent idea because 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.080 it's all about creating pathways to quote unquote normal life 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.600 after serving. You have to establish a brand new agency, 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:34.760 and normally I hate bureaucracy. But if a brand new 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:39.560 agency is exclusively focused full time job of people to 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.560 be on veterans well being, great. You can't fund it enough, 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.160 you can't have enough enough people in it. Because people 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.200 need to be taken care of. You need to improve 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:52.280 support communication with those defense families, not wait for them 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.320 to dig through to find the answers, give them the 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:58.200 answers when they ask. Finally, one oh six establish a 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.280 suicide database for serving an ex serving members. Because this 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:05.280 is the point, the numbers still are vague. We are 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.120 still in a gray zone about numbers. The numbers that 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:13.440 are in this Royal Commission are clear about what happened 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.120 prior to the Royal Commission, and then it gets a 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.960 little vague from when this thing started. And it started 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:21.920 of course in and around twenty nineteen, so it's been 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.280 going for a couple of years. You would think by 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.040 now there would be an absolute clarity of any and 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.760 everyone who has worn the uniform is wearing the uniform 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.760 and takes their own life, that we count that as 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:39.200 a suicide of an ex service person. One of the 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.200 many mothers that has been fighting for this, they spoke 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.120 today to the newspapers. The transition from the ADF back 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.400 to civilian life is something that needs to be implemented 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.560 as soon as possible. When mental health issues often caused 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.440 within the ADF are the reason for the discharge, they 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.240 shouldn't be medically discharged immediately like my son. You see, 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.440 that's an important point. You don't just get discharged off there, 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.520 she pensioned nothing else to see. If the problems occur 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:05.960 because of what happened in the workplace, and this of 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.679 course is a very unique workplace, then the workplace has 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.639 a responsibility and yes, that means in many ways financial 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:13.600 to follow you, in my view, for the rest of 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.800 your life. Colleen Pillen, again whose son took her own life, 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:22.159 says ongoing support even after discharge is also important to 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.320 ensure the well being of all members. The veterans should 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:28.159 be retrained, retrained for other suitable roles. Well. Again, that 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.399 is part of what is in this report. Great to 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.439 see Jackie Lamby. I have my problems with her. I 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:35.720 disagree with her most of the time. She has worn 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.159 the uniform and she has led the charge. She has 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.280 led the charge for this to become the Royal Commission. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.160 It is to her credit that that has now happened. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.280 Her belief and again at this point I can't see 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.760 anything and in the Royal Commission. But she thinks the 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:53.480 problem is the Defense Force Academy itself, that there is 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.159 a problem with the way that we train, and that 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:56.920 there's a problem with the way that we promote and 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.160 there's a problem with the people who go into certain 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:03.240 levels of Defense Force training. She says, blow it all up, 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.560 start again, and. 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.840 You can wonder why those families and those mothers that 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.639 have been out there for years and everybody else is saying, 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.800 don't join until it's fixed. I do not want to 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.040 have to get on that bandwagon, but if they don't 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.240 change their ways over the next three to six months. 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:19.720 I will, and that is going to hurt. 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:22.400 If you want to fix the culture of leadership in defense, 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.000 I suggest that today you make a decision as a 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.800 government to shut down the Australian Defense Force Academy. Okay, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.040 shut it down because running getting a lot of little 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.560 rich kids there with no life experience, and they're the 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.440 ones that end up in charge. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.320 Which takes us back to the things about emotional intelligence, 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.920 about the people beneath you having a role in who 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:44.440 ends up moving up, making sure that the people who 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:47.320 complain about those who move up are not kept at 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.120 a certain level and then eventually pushed out the side door. Again. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.240 I disagree with so much, and I've talked about it, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.200 but I have to give credit where it's due, and 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:57.880 she deserves the credit on this particular issue. I hope 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:01.119 that she uses her many media platforms to follow through 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.399 with what these recommendations are. Now, both the Prime Minister 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:07.359 and Peter Dudden have thanked the commissioners for the report. 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.919 They've said all the right things about the service people. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.280 But then the Prime Minister today amazingly turned around and 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.400 has not told us how many of these how many 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:18.680 of these recommendations that is willing to accept and when, 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.159 if ever they will actually be put in place. Now 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.400 this matters because the government didn't get the report today 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:25.760 like the rest of us, and it's had to try 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.600 to read six volumes of hundreds and hundreds of pages. 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.240 They've had it presumably for a little period of time. 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.520 That's always what happens, which is they get a heads 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:34.879 up to be able to read, to be able to 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.200 look through, to be able to go through. The Prime 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.600 Minister tomorrow needs to walk in and say that he 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.920 will support all of the recommendations. Peter Duton should do 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:45.560 the same thing too. 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:51.159 And this is where the Government will thoroughly consider every recommendation. 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.679 We will work across the Parliament on those issues and 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.800 do what we can to ensure that just as our 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:01.000 veterans and defense personnel step up for our country where 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:02.720 you have an obligation to step up. 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:08.720 For them, So do it. Do it, prioritize it. You've 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:10.840 got Parliament. If there's any need to change laws in 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:12.240 the next week, you've got a chance to do it. It 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.800 comes back a couple of weeks after that. Front and center, 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.760 front and center. You will have no doubt by partisan 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:19.800 support on all of this stuff. If I am missing 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.560 some little detail, that might be a hiccup here. But 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.000 all of those things that I've just shown you, all 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:27.200 of the extreme majority of one hundred and twenty things 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:29.760 that I have shown you are all pretty easy. They're 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:31.520 all to be done, and I don't care how much 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:36.520 it costs. Australians need to know that their Defense Force 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.439 takes care of people who are willing to put their 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.879 lives on the line to take care of us. To 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.520 any current member of the Australian Defense Force, thank you 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:48.600 for what you do. To every former member of the 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:50.840 Defense Force, thank you for what you have done. Thank 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.240