Veterans MP Darren Chester can’t see point of royal commission despite shock admission

The Veterans Affairs Minister admits his department has no information on the number of ex-servicemen suicides but adds he ‘doesn’t see the point’ of a royal commission into the crisis. It comes as the RSL (NSW) backed the call for a powerful inquiry.

• ‘Hostility’ to heroes: Gov’t admits it needs to do more
• PM vows to ‘fix’ vet care as mum pleads for commission

The head of the RSL in NSW has backed calls for a royal commission into military suicides as the federal government minister responsible stunningly admitted his department has lost track of veterans who have left the military.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister ­Darren Chester said he could not ­“see the point” of a royal ­commission, ­despite conceding his department had no idea of how many veterans killed themselves or even who they are because of poor historical record keeping by Defence and his ­department.

RSL NSW president James Brown backed calls from grieving families for a royal commission into military suicides, saying “the support system that should catch veterans and their families as they fall is a mess”.

Minister for Veterans Affairs Darren Chester doesn’t see the need for a royal commission into the suicide crisis involving Australia’s ex-servicemen. Picture: Kym Smith

NSW RSL President James Brown disagrees and has back calls for the commission. Picture: John Appleyard

Writing in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, Mr Brown said the Department of Veterans’ Affairs was “an intimidating and cold system to grapple with” that in some cases “falls well short of the standards set  in the National Disability Insurance Scheme”.

“I know of a commando who was shot in the stomach on operations but his claim was held up because some bureaucrat would not take responsibility for his irritable bowel syndrome. It is a ridiculous situation,” Mr Brown said.

“Compounding these problems, DVA doesn’t even know precisely how many veterans Australia has or where they live — because no one thought to include questions regarding military service on the Australian census or forms in our state-based hospital and justice systems.”

MORE NEWS

How PTSD sufferers could ‘rewrite’ bad memories

Frustrated Gagai ready to quit Rabbitohs

Racing NSW’s war over prizemoney with Victoria gets personal

Mr Brown served with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Iraq and Afghanistan and said one of his colleagues took his own life. “One of my soldiers started the Australian Veterans Suicide Register from his hospital bed because no one was keeping track of this,” he said.

Mr Chester told Sky News: “We believe in the order of about 30 veterans per year take their own lives and I'm sorry that I sound a bit vague on that but we actually don't know every veteran in Australia.”

He added Defence systems had changed and the department was now collecting data from veterans.

SIGN THE PETITION FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION

The Daily Telegraph’s campaign backs the mother of Dave Finney, who has called for the royal commission. Picture: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph’s Save Our Heroes campaign has backed calls from the mother of late navy officer David Finney for a royal commission into military suicides.

Mr Chester rejected those calls, instead saying the Productivity Commission would report soon on veteran help: “I don't want to spend $100-odd-million paying lawyers when that money could be spent on medical assistance.”

Mr Brown said: “It should not be an either or proposition.”

GOOD REASON WHY A ROYAL COMMISSION IS NEEDED

He served more than a decade in the Australian Navy, but the final years of Scott Williams’ life were spent in the back of an office shoved away and made to feel like “garbage”.

Speaking for the first time about her son’s suicide, his frustrated mother Karen Scott said the young Sydney father struggled to return to normal life after serving in East Timor, Solomon Islands and the Gulf.

But it was the severe bullying by senior officials and the “lack of skills” given to veterans after leaving service that pushed the 35-year-old to breaking point in 2015.

Scott Williams, pictured with his son Zac, was left to carry his mental scars following his deployment. He struggled to return to normal life and took his own life. Picture: Supplied

“Scott found it hard to mix back into society after he was medically discharged in 2010 and the system failed him. The psychologist barely did anything to save him,” Mrs Scott said. “The Department of Veterans’ Affairs psychologist is useless. They’re like here’s another one lets cover it up and move onto the next one. I don’t think they care.”

After trying to hold down a job for five years, Mrs Scott said her son became “agitated” in the lead up to his death and felt as though he was “tossed like garbage” by the Navy.

And while the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Darren Chester, said he doesn’t want to spend $100 million on a royal commission and instead put it towards mental health services, Mrs Scott says that’s another way of trying to “sweep it under the rug”.

“A royal commission needs to be set up to stop other families being left on their own to deal with everything when their children come home from service,” Mrs Scott said.

“On top of that, they need to put money into services because I believe the suicide (rate) is the worst it’s ever been and I know that from speaking to other families.”

He served as a Naval officer for more than a decade. Picture: Supplied

Bad record keeping also added to the grief following Scott’s death, as his mother tried accessing his will to help pass it on to his son Zac.

“I would of thought the Defence Force would of kept a record of current serving members and
ex-personnel so they know what was going on and for follow ups in the future,” Mrs Scott said.

“But everyone knows things go missing in the Defence Force and the will that Scott had written, which we all know is compulsory for soldiers deployed overseas to make, somehow has gone ‘missing’.

“They can’t send our boys away only to bring them back broken and not fix them.”

Lifeline 13 11 14

Originally published as Veterans MP Darren Chester can’t see point of royal commission despite shock admission