Mum pleads for RC as Morrison vows to ‘fix’ vet care

Save Our Heroes: A mother who lost her Iraq and Afghanistan veteran son to suicide says she’ll be forever haunted by his face and the “national shame’ of a so-called support system that failed him.

• ‘Hostility’ to heroes: Govt admits it needs to do more

A mother who lost her Iraq and Afghanistan veteran son to suicide says she’ll be forever haunted by his face and the “national shame’ of a so-called support system that failed him.

Jasmin Carmel said her son Jarrad Brown, 27, battled with post-traumatic stress disorder and had pleaded for help but his calls fell on deaf ears.

Rallying behind The Daily Telegraph’s campaign Save Our Heroes, she said the suicides of defence personnel and veterans was a “national shame” and joined the growing call for a royal commission into the loss of hundreds of lives.

Jarrad Brown was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He suffered PTSD and died by suicide in 2015 aged 27.

Jarrad Brown was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He suffered PTSD and died in 2015, aged 27. Picture: Supplied

“I want to see this royal commission come through,” the Sunshine Coast mum said.

“I feel betrayed by the Australian Defence Force because veterans take a pledge to look after their country, yet no one protects them and their families when they return.”

Ms Carmel said she remembers her pre-teen son watching TV when the Twin Towers crashed down on September 11, 2001, which ultimately led to his service in the Middle East.

In July 2010, Jarrad was a pallbearer for his mate, Private Nathan Bewes who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. When he left the army Jarrad was working fly-in fly-out for a mining company in Port Hedland, WA before returning to Queensland on weeks off.

‘Something in his eyes had changed,

Jthere was nothing that could help him’

“I could see something in his eyes had changed and when he returned there was nothing that could help him following the transition back home,” she said.

“Jarrad went to Department of Veterans Affairs and didn’t fill out a form and I’ll never forget the look on his face when he said that he had to go through this complicated process,” Ms Carmel said.

He took his life the next day after going to the DVA on December 5, 2015.

“He felt all hope was gone and he gave up and did not start the process. The look on his face still haunts me and he took his life the next day, leaving a note saying ‘look after mum always’.”

“My life has changed forever and we haven’t learnt anything.”

“If we can save some other mother wearing the same shoes then we are making a change because we know the pain. And we need to encourage other men and women to get help, because if they have to go through a hard process then they’re not going to get help.”

The PM has called for urgent departmental briefings on the crisis.

PM VOWS TO ‘FIX’ VETS’ CARE

Exclusive: Minister Scott Morrison has admitted his agencies are “failing” some of the nation’s most vulnerable veterans in the face of growing calls for a Royal Commission into the “hidden epidemic” of military suicide.

The PM last night called for urgent departmental briefings on the crisis, highlighted by The Daily Telegraph’s Save Our Heroes campaign.

Mr Morrison said while he believed “a lot of effort” was taking place within the government — including a $500 million revamp of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) — he was concerned to make sure the money “hit the mark”.

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There’s growing anger within affected families and defence support groups over the “inequitable”, “out of date” and “poorly administered” treatment of veterans, as grieving families deal with an extraordinary suicide toll now exceeding battlefield deaths.

“The Prime Minister has called for urgent briefings from the Department of Veterans Affairs and officials in response to the devastating accounts of our veterans taking their own lives,” the PM’s spokesman said.

“We recognise the seriousness of the problem and appreciate the candour and the work that has been done to ensure these issues are being raised.

“Ahead of the release of the final Productivity Commission report into DVA’s rehab and compensation system, the PM will consider all options to ensure our veterans receive the utmost support and care.

“And that the system, which is failing some of our most vulnerable veterans despite our ongoing investments, is fixed.”

Veterans across the country have described ongoing battles trying to get help with mental health issues, as well as other physical injuries, with an “adversarial” DVA, including being told to go interstate to find psychiatrists.

Royal Australian Navy marine technician and Petty Officer Dave Finney tragically took his life in February this year, after being unable to see a DVA-accredited psychiatrist late last year. A blunt email had been sent to him saying he would have to wait up to five months and travel interstate.

Suicide rates among male ex-serving Australian Defence Force personnel aged 18 to 24 are twice the rate for civilian men the same age.

Vet Gary Angel, 72, who served in the Navy, has had “terrible” battles with DVA over the years.

“They delay and delay and deny and deny,” he said. “Then you’re dead. You wouldn’t believe the amount of letters and reviews I’ve had with them,” he said.

Daniel Garforth took his own life aged just 21. Picture: Supplied

“I was in the Navy for 22 years, and was 38 when I left, like Dave Finney. The problem with these suicides is that the younger ones don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. What is happening is ghastly.”

The report being handed to the PM describes a “culture of DVA denying claims” and says the current mental health strategy was “not adequate”.

Mr Morrison has not agreed to a Royal Commission, despite families saying it’s the only way the full extent of the problem will be uncovered.

An estimated 577 serving and ex-servicemen and women have taken their lives since 2000.

The mother of Petty officer Finney, Julie-Ann Finney, said it’s been almost a century since a 1924 Royal Commission was held in into the treatment of vets and was now “long overdue”.

JP Brian O’Neill, a senior advocate who helps vets defend claims made by the DVA, says he had dealt with three suicides over 20 years “due to the negligence” of the agencies.

“There needs to be a thorough investigation into DVA because of the many suicides and neglect of care by DVA,” he said.

According to Nikki Jamieson, the mother of Private Daniel Garforth, 21, who took his life in 2014, the “situation is dire” and a Royal Commission was required to fully understand the dynamic behind the surge in deaths.

She says new recruits spend 12 weeks in Basic Training “being broken down” yet just one day on transitioning out of the service.

“Defence should spend 12 weeks building them up again, how to adjust to civilian life and how to build their support networks, how to deal with having their moral codes broken.”

NEW MP’S LIFE-SAVING MISSION FOR COMRADES

— by Clare Armstrong

Veteran Phillip Thompson has already lost two close friends to suicide this year, but the newly elected politician is determined to use his position to end the shocking rate of deaths.

The incoming Liberal National Party MP for the north Queensland electorate of Herbert said 11 of his mates have died by suicide in the past decade.

Phillip Thompson got a tattoo of his mate’s name Benny Ranaudo after he was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009. Picture Kym Smith

“Anzac Day this year, a friend of mine died by suicide and I found out while I was standing next to the Prime Minister,” Mr Thompson said. “I didn’t have to do the press conference that day but I wanted to do the right thing and honour my brothers who have died by suicide … by getting elected so I can be a part of making sure there is change.”

Barely a month later he attended the funeral of a another friend who took his own life while still an active member of the Australian Defence Force.

Mr Thompson, 31, is no stranger to the struggles of veterans. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, lost hearing in one ear, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a roadside bomb exploded a metre away from him in Afghanistan in 2009.

Just months earlier, his friend Private Benjamin Ranaudo was killed and another friend, Private Paul Warren lost his leg when an antipersonnel device exploded.

Phillip Thompson during his Afghanistan deployment with 1RAR in 2009.

Highlighting the need for more veteran support is on the top of his to-do list when he gets to Canberra.

“There’s always room to do better, because if we were doing things great, then I wouldn’t have attended a funeral two weeks ago,” he said. Mr Thompson, who was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his work in veteran support, said a strong transition plan for ex-service personnel, providing peer support and “co-designed” solutions tailored to individual needs were critically important.

“It’s about not telling us what we want, but asking us what we need,” he said.

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