Page 5050 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 26 October 2010
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Like other speakers today, I would like to praise the work of the local veterans associations that provide forums for individuals suffering particularly from post-traumatic stress disorder. Two such forums are the Vietnam Veterans and Veterans Federation ACT and Picking up the Pieces, a community group committed to a national campaign to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
If we look at veterans who have served recently, we are only just starting to see the symptoms of illness and disability, and already there is quite significant data to raise concern about their wellbeing. For example, from 2007-08 to 2008-09, there was an increase of 280 per cent in the costs of caring for injured Australian veterans that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Forty-five per cent of cases related to mental illness and 40 per cent to hearing loss. Studies conducted in the US have also shown that one in five returned personnel who were deployed in Iraq returned with post-traumatic stress disorder. I think they are quite concerning statistics that we need to consider also for the ACT.
In the last federal government estimates process, Greens Senator Scott Ludlum asked about mental health services provided to current defence personnel. Transcripts from those hearings show that the federal government has had to increase its spending in this area by about $20 million a year. In the ACT, I understand we will have additional psychologists—two, to be exact—with potentially an increase in the number of mental health nurses in the near future. The ADF are also employing eight more drug and alcohol coordinators who will engage in outreach programs across Australia.
We have talked about, obviously, the contributions of soldiers to the various conflicts over recent years, but Australia has also obviously, as we know, had significant peacekeeping forces and contributions in fields with the United Nations for over 50 years. In Indonesia in 1947, Australians were part of the very first group of UN military observers anywhere in the world and were, in fact, the first into the field.
In the early years, Australia’s peacekeepers were generally unarmed military observers promoting peace indirectly through monitoring roles. The Australian Defence Force has played and will obviously continue to play an important role through these various measures.
Mr Hargreaves did speak about the current conflict in Afghanistan and did mention that, regardless of what the political views are or support for that war, everyone supports what our troops are doing in terms of being sent into that conflict and having to perform their duties. I would like to read out the words of Bob Brown in his speech last week in the federal parliament where there has been the debate on Afghanistan. His words were:
Regardless of political allegiance, this body politic gives the Australians in Afghanistan our thanks and our congratulations for their service at the behest of the government and in the cause of the nation.
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