1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,800
Speaker 1: Now we know the federal government has accepted more than

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:07,840
Speaker 1: one hundred recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defense and

3
00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:12,160
Speaker 1: Veterans Suicide and promised major reform following the three thousand

4
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,680
Speaker 1: page plus inquiry. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi yesterday said

5
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,400
Speaker 1: that his government had initiated one of the fastest responses

6
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,040
Speaker 1: in government to a Royal Commission inquiry. The final report

7
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 1: was released three months ago and is vowed there will

8
00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: be systemic change, the Prime Minister revealing one hundred and

9
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,960
Speaker 1: four of those one hundred and twenty two recommendations have

10
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,080
Speaker 1: for the consideration and one isn't supported in part. Now

11
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,640
Speaker 1: joining me on the show is the Member for Solomon

12
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:46,280
Speaker 1: and also the Special Envoy four Defense and Veterans Affairs,

13
00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:47,159
Speaker 1: Luke Gosling.

14
00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:48,800
Speaker 2: Good morning to you morning, Katie.

15
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,960
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning. Now, Luke,

16
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 1: tell us what work well, what will be the role

17
00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,960
Speaker 1: I guess of the establishment of this new Defense and

18
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:00,600
Speaker 1: Veterans Service Commission.

19
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. Yeah, that'll basically continue the work of

20
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,320
Speaker 2: the Royal Commission in terms of it's going to be

21
00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:12,240
Speaker 2: an oversight body and just tracking how well those recommendations

22
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,720
Speaker 2: are being applied and just keeping things on track. But

23
00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,480
Speaker 2: we're creating a task force within Prime Minister and Cabinet

24
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 2: so it can be across government. So it's a whole

25
00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 2: of government activity required for a lot of these recommendations

26
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 2: to be implemented. So that's two bodies, a task force

27
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,400
Speaker 2: to crack on with the implementation, but also the oversight body,

28
00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,200
Speaker 2: which is that commission that you mentioned, But obviously I

29
00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 2: thought really hard for the Royal Commission. I'm really thankful

30
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,640
Speaker 2: to the Prime Minister for backing that call. He's been

31
00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,039
Speaker 2: very supportive the whole way through. We spent a long

32
00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,840
Speaker 2: time with the Royal Commission talking to a lot of people,

33
00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,320
Speaker 2: thanks to all the veterans here on the top end

34
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 2: and around the country that told there's sometimes really difficult stories.

35
00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,240
Speaker 2: But as a result of those stories, we've got some

36
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,280
Speaker 2: really good recommendations. The overwhelming majority of them we're cracking

37
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 2: on with the implementation. There are seventeen that need some

38
00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,399
Speaker 2: more work. So that's the job of the task force

39
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,800
Speaker 2: now to work through that extra detail.

40
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,040
Speaker 1: So like, how come they need more work? What's the

41
00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:16,440
Speaker 1: situation with those ones?

42
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,240
Speaker 2: Just because they're a bit more complex, Like they work

43
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,800
Speaker 2: across several government departments, so there needs to be and

44
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,440
Speaker 2: that's why the task forces in the Prime Minister and

45
00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,760
Speaker 2: Cabinet so it can say too ndis mob can talk

46
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,160
Speaker 2: to health, that can talk to education, can talk to workplace,

47
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,160
Speaker 2: the whole gambit of So they're the more complex recommendations

48
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,079
Speaker 2: I guess where there's still some more work to be done,

49
00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,080
Speaker 2: but we want to crack on with the one hundred

50
00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,080
Speaker 2: and four that we've agreed to and get those in place.

51
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,519
Speaker 1: And this is a Steen and defense suicide. The issues

52
00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,360
Speaker 1: that have been prevalent for such a long period of

53
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,640
Speaker 1: time and it's so glaringly obvious that something needs to change.

54
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:56,920
Speaker 1: I think what you've said there is so true, like

55
00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:58,640
Speaker 1: got to get cracking on with it and got to

56
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:03,160
Speaker 1: now get these recommended into action. What's the what's the

57
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,640
Speaker 1: situation with the one one, you know, one recommendation that's

58
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,440
Speaker 1: not supported in part.

59
00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, that one's a bit contentious within the veteran community

60
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:19,320
Speaker 2: because it's about the service differential. So it means depending

61
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,000
Speaker 2: on the type of service that led to your injury

62
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:28,760
Speaker 2: or impairment, there's a different amount and veterans that that

63
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,560
Speaker 2: you received there's a different That's what it's called the

64
00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:38,240
Speaker 2: service differential. So if you injured yourself in training, for example,

65
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,080
Speaker 2: or you injured yourself in Afghanistan, if you if you're

66
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,960
Speaker 2: served in warlike or non warlike but still operational service,

67
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:52,200
Speaker 2: there's a slight differential in the in the compensation that

68
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,280
Speaker 2: you get to depending on sort of how that service

69
00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,920
Speaker 2: came about. And it is really it is. There's some

70
00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,400
Speaker 2: strong feelings about that one. Obviously, some people of the

71
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,120
Speaker 2: viewers it doesn't matter how you get injured, it's the

72
00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 2: injury and you're a level of impairment accounts. A lot

73
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,440
Speaker 2: of other people say, and that's a strongly held view

74
00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,479
Speaker 2: from most veterans, is that if you're providing operational service,

75
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 2: life's on the line. There has for a hundred years

76
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,440
Speaker 2: been a different level of compensation that you receive from

77
00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,080
Speaker 2: the Commonwealth, and we've just decided to keep it there

78
00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,640
Speaker 2: at this point. Obviously, it'll be the job of the

79
00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,760
Speaker 2: Commission to see if that's most appropriate for the future,

80
00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,560
Speaker 2: but we're going to have that continual oversight body, which

81
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:42,480
Speaker 2: is really important.

82
00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:44,919
Speaker 1: I think it is. It's incredibly important, and I know

83
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,039
Speaker 1: that a loss of a lot of our listeners are

84
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,720
Speaker 1: either serving or have served and I think that they'll

85
00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,240
Speaker 1: be pleased that the majority of these recommendations are going

86
00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,960
Speaker 1: to be implemented. Luke, I want to move along because

87
00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 1: there is a bit to cover off on this morning.

88
00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Cyclone t commemorations. Last week, the

89
00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,159
Speaker 1: Mayor revealed on the show that the Prime Minister was

90
00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,800
Speaker 1: not going to be attending the weekends commemorations. Do you

91
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,680
Speaker 1: know if he's going to be attending other events to

92
00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,360
Speaker 1: commemorate one of Australia's worst ever natural disasters.

93
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Prime Minister will be here for the actual anniversary,

94
00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:24,560
Speaker 2: so he's exact arrival in Darwin. You know, we're still

95
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,840
Speaker 2: working through with his other commitments. But the fact that

96
00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 2: when I asked him, I said, you, boss, this means

97
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,480
Speaker 2: a lot to the survivors and the actual anniversary is

98
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:40,320
Speaker 2: Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, and he said, yeah, no

99
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,960
Speaker 2: worries made, I'll be there. And you know, I was

100
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,839
Speaker 2: really really stoked with that, because you know, this is

101
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,520
Speaker 2: it was a traumatic time and a lot of the

102
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,880
Speaker 2: people you're going to talk to, Kadie and that you

103
00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,680
Speaker 2: already have spoken with. You know, it's still very raw

104
00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:56,720
Speaker 2: fifty years ago, but it's like for a lot of

105
00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,360
Speaker 2: people like it was yesterday. And I think for him

106
00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:01,359
Speaker 2: as the leader of the country to come here for

107
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,120
Speaker 2: the actual anniversary, that's what I asked him to do

108
00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,520
Speaker 2: and he agreed, And but he'll still get Christmas afternoon

109
00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:08,880
Speaker 2: back in Sydney with his family.

110
00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,919
Speaker 1: But so he's going to be here on Christmas morning.

111
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,599
Speaker 2: Well, that's yeah, that's it. It's a dawn service at

112
00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,720
Speaker 2: East Point. It's you know, it's when people woke up

113
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 2: and looked around and saw the devastation it was through

114
00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,400
Speaker 2: that night where he'll be here in Darwin that right

115
00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,400
Speaker 2: that it hit and and I think it's good that

116
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:28,240
Speaker 2: he's going to be here for that.

117
00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that, you know, the survivors will

118
00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,040
Speaker 1: appreciate that. I think it shows a level of respect

119
00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,120
Speaker 1: for those survivors that they you know, that they deserve, right.

120
00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:44,360
Speaker 2: They deserve that. And look, I'm really so thankful that

121
00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,719
Speaker 2: so many people, and not dissimilar to the Royal Commission, right,

122
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,640
Speaker 2: so many people are sharing their stories and it's good

123
00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,560
Speaker 2: for them. It's restorative for them, I think, but it's

124
00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,960
Speaker 2: good for the rest of us to realize that this

125
00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,680
Speaker 2: joint was absolutely flattened and destroyed and territory and rebuilt,

126
00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,040
Speaker 2: but they also rebuilt with the support of people from

127
00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,160
Speaker 2: all around Australia. So it's been great to see some

128
00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,120
Speaker 2: Navy people come back and to share their stories. And

129
00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,840
Speaker 2: last night out at Robinson Barracks where we had the

130
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,000
Speaker 2: relinking of the fifth Battan and the seventh Battalion out

131
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,400
Speaker 2: there last night, well the fifth seventh Battalion actually responded

132
00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,800
Speaker 2: and came up here and helped with the cleanup after

133
00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,440
Speaker 2: Cyclone Tracy in nineteen seventy five. So there's lots of history.

134
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,600
Speaker 2: It's just it's an absolute privilege to be here living

135
00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,240
Speaker 2: in this city that's got such rich history. So we

136
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,720
Speaker 2: take this commemoration really seriously.

137
00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. It also, you know, it shows a

138
00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:43,280
Speaker 1: level of resilience amongst Territorians that you know, we're tough,

139
00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,920
Speaker 1: like Territorians are a bloody tough bunch. But what we've

140
00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 1: gone through, what Territorians have gone through, what Darwin residents,

141
00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,760
Speaker 1: but like you touched on, the people from all around

142
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:57,640
Speaker 1: Australia is a wonderful thing to see. Luke Grumpy's message

143
00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 1: from Catherine. He's got a couple of questions. I've got

144
00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,520
Speaker 1: a couple of questions for Luke Gosling if you could

145
00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 1: please ask. He wants to know when is Cold Chisel

146
00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,240
Speaker 1: coming to the Northern Territory and what's the approximate opening

147
00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,440
Speaker 1: date for Aldi in Darwin? Is that from one of

148
00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:14,160
Speaker 1: your made.

149
00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,280
Speaker 2: Great great questions Grumpy.

150
00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,800
Speaker 1: Grumpy's he's a long time listener. We love Grumpy.

151
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,120
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I can't say that we're going to get

152
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,880
Speaker 2: Colchies who with Catherine Grumpy, but you'll come up the

153
00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,200
Speaker 2: track for when they arrive. You know, when Jimmy got sick,

154
00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,040
Speaker 2: we had a big campaign go and you know Russell

155
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,720
Speaker 2: from Monsoons and others. We worked really hard with major events.

156
00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,079
Speaker 2: Suzi there, who's obviously running the department now, we worked

157
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,400
Speaker 2: really hard together to try and get Cold Chisel at

158
00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,120
Speaker 2: the end of their national tour because we're like and

159
00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,400
Speaker 2: Jimmy really wanted to do it. He was like fifty

160
00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,120
Speaker 2: years of Chisels, fifty years since Tracy. Let's go up

161
00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,000
Speaker 2: and you know seeing you know, when Santa didn't come

162
00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,680
Speaker 2: for Christmas and we're trying to get Carols by Candlelight

163
00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,520
Speaker 2: to sing that song as well around the country. But

164
00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,800
Speaker 2: we just didn't make it because Jimmy got sick and

165
00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,200
Speaker 2: it just through the whole tour. It didn't quite work,

166
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,000
Speaker 2: but we're gonna we're going to get after it. And

167
00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 2: they what the good thing is is they've said, look,

168
00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,240
Speaker 2: you know, your top of our list for next time.

169
00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,320
Speaker 2: We're not going to have Darwin off the off the

170
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,240
Speaker 2: tour again. And with Aldi, I'm meeting with them in

171
00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,439
Speaker 2: Sydney next week. There will be some things I can

172
00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,840
Speaker 2: say after that. There's some commercial and confidence stuff, where

173
00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:40,040
Speaker 2: as as as part of the agreement for us to

174
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,120
Speaker 2: have this meeting, they said, look, look some of the

175
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,240
Speaker 2: stuff we're going to share with this commercial and confidence.

176
00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,719
Speaker 2: But I said, look, no worries. We just want to

177
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,520
Speaker 2: give the solution. Let's find a solution. You tell me

178
00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:52,760
Speaker 2: where the pain points are and we'll come up with

179
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:54,920
Speaker 2: a solution to make it work. The more pressure on

180
00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,119
Speaker 2: the big two supermarkets, the better, more choice for territorians.

181
00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:58,880
Speaker 2: That's what we're after.

182
00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,080
Speaker 1: Well, look let us hey, you go, we'll catch up

183
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:02,120
Speaker 1: with you again once you get back.

184
00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:03,280
Speaker 2: Hey, I'll tell you what I can.

185
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,240
Speaker 1: Jeez, Katie, thank you