Australian Defence Force ‘destroy and discard’ members, Royal Commission hears
Julie-Ann Finney, who lost her son to suicide and spearheaded the campaign for a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has described the ADF as ‘a machine’.
The loving mother who lobbied the Morrison government for a royal commission after she lost her son to suicide in 2019 has slammed the Australian Defence Force as “a machine” that “destroys and discards” its members.
Julie-Ann Finney addressed the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Monday with a framed photo of her son, Petty Officer David Finney, and his many prescription medications that made him “a zombie” displayed on a table.
Ms Finney detailed Defence’s treatment of her son, including his medical discharge from the navy in 2017 while in hospital for a suicide attempt.
“He was in hospital dying and they signed his discharge papers … and they walked away which left my son in a hospital bed, with no one to pick him up, nowhere to go, because Defence are not responsible,” she said.
“How is this anything human? How do you leave someone on a suicide attempt, in a hospital bed, and walk away from them?”
“I did not realise till after how disgusting the Defence Force treats their human beings.”
Ms Finney told the commission David was rushed back to work soon after he and his ex-wife lost their child to SIDS in 2007.
“He was doing a first aid course … The first aid course (teaches them to) practise resuscitation and, of course, when you’re practising, you also do babies,” she said. “David broke down … and he said whoever was in charge called me a soft cock and told me to get on with it.”
The royal commission began in July 2021 following a campaign spearheaded by Ms Finney.
The interim report of the royal commission – released earlier this month – found a culture of bullying, silence and cover-up and an overburdened claims system, contributed to unacceptably high suicide risks. David had submitted five claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs, three of which were accepted.
In the lead-up to her son’s funeral, Ms Finney said there was a lack of compassion afforded to her. She told the commission the chaplain refused to refer to her son by name and told her to “get used to” calling it “the body”.
“There was the navy flag … and I asked could that be presented to me at David’s funeral and they said, ‘Well, if you buy one we’ll fold it for you’.”
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie attended the hearing and took aim at Defence Minister Richard Marles and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh for the ADF “not getting any better”.
The royal commission’s final report will be tabled in June 2024.
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