Paul Kirby attends wedding instead of Defence Commission of Inquiry

Veterans criticised Mr Kirby’s absence from the Commission’s hearings, which were conducted in Darwin while he was attending a family wedding interstate. Now he has responded.

Northern Territory Veterans Affairs Minister Paul Kirby says he won’t be apologising for taking two weeks of leave while the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was sitting in Darwin.

Sky News Australia revealed Mr Kirby had taken leave for the two weeks the Commission hearings were held in the Top End.

After returning from holiday, Mr Kirby said he had been attending a family wedding interstate.

“I just want to start off by saying it’s extremely important that the Royal Commission did come to Darwin, there is not a group of people in our society that I respect more than our serving officer or our veterans,” he said.

Mr Kirby said he had met with Royal Commission official before the hearings and had offered to appear by video-link if required.

“It was a family wedding, to be honest with you, that we went away for,” he said.

“Something that was planned over a year ago, we just couldn’t alter the timing of our trip.

“I was disappointed not to be here, but I want people to understand our commitment to veterans.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Paul Kirby attended a wedding instead of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide which was sitting in Darwin in October. Picture: Julianne Osborne

Asked if the wedding had gone for two weeks, Mr Kirby said: “Matt, I’m not going to go into our exact travel arrangements but it was a family wedding that had been planned for over a year – it had been cancelled once before during Covid.

“If you want some personal information it gave my five-year-old daughter (the chance) to meet her 90-year-old great-grandparent for the first time ever, I’m not going to apologise for that.”

Veterans criticised Mr Kirby’s absence from the Commission’s hearings.

Sam Weston, who served in East Timor and advocates for victims suffering mental health issues, said Mr Kirby’s absence was inexcusable.

“It’s what the whole Royal Commission is about. It’s not listening to veterans, not being supported, and it just shows in the height of the commission, our own veterans minister couldn’t be there, to support us in some way,” he told Sky News Australia last week.

But Mr Kirby said there was nothing he could do about the unfortunate timing that forced his absence.

“I’m sure that once Sam understands that the collision of a personal and of a family wedding – it wasn’t just a holiday to go away it was a family wedding – it had been planned a number of times Matt, you can’t do anything about timing of a personal event like that,” he said.

“In these roles we miss a number of personal things, you do miss some professional things, that you would prefer not to miss out on.

“But given the choice of having to leave my family to attend a one-off wedding interstate I didn’t think that I had any other choice, any other decision that I could make and I know that once Sam and anybody else that wants to have that conversation with me get the opportunity to have those conversations I’m sure they’ll understand.”

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Originally published as Paul Kirby attends wedding instead of Defence Commission of Inquiry