Defence chief meets with mother of veteran over Royal Commission
The grieving mother spearheading the call for a royal commission into veteran suicides has finally been given an audience with Defence chiefs as pressure mounts on the government.
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The grieving mother spearheading the call for a royal commission into veteran suicides has finally been given an audience with Defence chiefs.
Julie-Ann Finney, who has collected 260,000 signatures calling for a Royal Commission since her Navy poster-boy son Dave took his own life in February, met with Current Chief of Army Lieutenant General Angus Campbell and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds on Monday.
“I feel like I am gaining support from all the politicians and many of them are starting to come on board the more I talk to them,” Ms Finney said.
“I said to each politician that when I walk out of this room you will think about me a little and then forget. I and thousands of others live with this 24/7 and we don’t get it out of our heads.”
A Defence spokeswoman confirmed the closed door meeting took place but refused to give any details.
“The Minister and the Chief of the Defence Force care deeply about the health and wellbeing of the Australian Defence Force’s people, veterans and their families,” the spokeswoman said.
The Daily Telegraph has backed Ms Finney’s call for a royal commission and at a summit in Sydney last week the Berejiklian government backed the calls for a Royal Commission.
Acting Veterans Affairs Minister Geoff Lee told the summit: “The system is broken. The NSW government is committed to supporting this call for a royal commission. Clearly we must do better.”
Yesterday Liberal MP Phillip Thompson, an Afghanistan veteran who suffered serious wounds on the battlefield, also said he would support a Royal Commission.
“Do I think a royal commission can be beneficial? Of course,” he said.
“My heart says if a group of mothers who have lost their sons to suicide and can’t see any other way forward except a royal commission, I will back them every single day,” he told Sky News.
Mr Thompson said it was the lower ranks who were taking their own lives. “Generals and senior officers aren’t the people dying by suicide. The people dying by suicide are my mates.”
Senator Penny Wong met on Tuesday with Ms Finney and said she will be further discussing the idea of a Royal Commission with the Labor Party.
Afterwards Ms Finney said: “She asked about the Productivity Commission report and a new bill to help veterans with back into civilian life and I know it’s a great idea, but it won’t help the suicides in the ADF.
“It is just another bandaid solution that the government is looking for. They want to get on top of it because of the media attention but the only way is a royal commission.”
Ms Wong said it was a “privilege to meet” Ms Finney.
“Mothers change the world, and Julie-Ann is demonstrating that. It is my hope that all Parliamentarians will hear Julie-Ann’s message, and work together to solve the systemic issues that are putting our service people and veterans at risk.”
The Labor Party are understood to be open to supporting a Royal Commission.
Ms Finney has also met with Senators Kimberley Kitching, Jacqui Lambie, Rex Patrick and Marielle Smith.
More than 500 veterans have committed suicide since 2001.
Originally published as Defence chief meets with mother of veteran over Royal Commission