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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-17 Daily Xml
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Motions

PTSD Awareness Day

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (11:59): I move:

That this house:

(a) acknowledges that 27 June 2020 is PTSD Awareness Day;

(b) notes that PTSD relates to post-traumatic stress disorder;

(c) notes that in excess of one million Australians suffer from PTSD;

(d) notes that over 10 per cent of military and emergency service workers and volunteers suffer from PTSD;

(e) encourages people who may be suffering from PTSD to discuss openly any issues, to seek early medical advice or counselling services; and

(f) encourages society to understand the causes of PTSD and that it is not a sign of weakness.

PTSD is an issue that most of our communities may not really understand—what it is, how it is inflicted onto people and how it impacts on everybody's life.

PTSD is a complex series of emotions that are often persistent, uncomfortable and founded on anxiety. It typically develops after experiencing one or more traumatic events that have threatened someone's life or safety or those of people around them. These events can include serious accidents, natural disasters, crime, war, torture, physical or sexual assault and other horrifying events. People in professions such as the military, firefighters, paramedics, emergency workers, police officers and others are particularly vulnerable to the debilitating condition.

It is estimated that around 10 per cent of Australians experience PTSD at some stage in their life. People with PTSD can experience other mental health issues at the same time, such as anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug use. Sometimes the feelings dissipate by themselves after talking to family, friends or colleagues, but when these feelings continue and begin to interfere with everyday life, work and relationships then it is time to find help, as these kinds of shocking and overwhelming events can be difficult to come to terms with on our own. The main symptoms of PTSD are:

reliving a traumatic event through distressing, unwanted memories, vivid nightmares and/or flashbacks, which can also include feeling very upset or having intense physical reactions such as heart palpitations or being unable to breathe when reminded of the traumatic event;

avoiding reminders of the traumatic events, including activities, places, people, thoughts or feelings that bring back memories of the trauma;

negative thoughts and feelings such as fear, anger, guilt or feeling flat or numb a lot of the time. A person might blame themselves or others for what happened during or after a traumatic event, they may feel cut off from friends or lose interest in day-to-day activities; and

they may also feel 'wound up', which might mean having trouble sleeping or concentrating, feeling angry or irritable, taking risks, being easily startled, and/or being constantly on the lookout for danger.

We must always remember that it can take time to discover the best treatment for each person, so it is best to work very closely with a GP or other trusted and qualified health professional to find out what works best for each individual.

Medical research indicates there are 17 signs that may indicate post-traumatic stress disorder. This research has identified that they range from flashbacks to nightmares, panic attacks to eating disorders and cognitive delays, to lowered verbal memory capacity. Many trauma survivors also develop substance abuse issues, as they attempt to self-medicate the negative effects of the PTSD.

Just as not every trauma survivor will develop PTSD, not every individual with PTSD will develop the same signs, and rarely do all 17 exist in the one individual. There are numerous symptoms that indicate a person may be developing PTSD, including:

stress: the person was exposed to injury or severe illness that was life threatening, including actual or threatened injury or violence. This can include many other issues;

intrusion symptoms: the person was exposed to a trauma and then re-experiences the trauma in one or more ways;

unpleasant changes to moods or thoughts;

avoidance: when a person tries to avoid all reminders of trauma, including avoiding external reminders of what happened, and avoiding trauma-related thoughts or emotions, sometimes through the use of drugs or alcohol; and

changes in reactivity: this occurs when a person becomes more easily startled and reacts to frightful experiences more fully, including symptoms of aggression or irritability, difficulty in concentrating, a heightened startled response or engaging in destructive or risky behaviour.

Getting back to my first comments regarding how it impacts people in general, I have friends who were having issues with their personal lives, not knowing that or why their behaviour was affecting their own loved ones. These people just put up with their discomfort, thinking their aggression to others was normal behaviour. After their families convinced them to see a specialist to better understand what medication was required to make them feel better, it turned out that they were suffering from an incident that could be included in the reasons I outlined earlier.

After identifying the causes of what was involved with these dramatic recalls of incidents, they were able to have the relevant treatment, they are leading far better lives and their families and friends now understand the reasons for their previous isolation and behaviour. Also, the person directly involved, the patient, now understands how to better control these emotions. While they may never be the same as prior to the incident, they are able to at least live a far better life and have a better relationship with their loved ones.

I have had personal experience with people suffering from this issue. In a couple of instances these people could not cope or could not accept the prognosis and on a couple of occasions refused to get specialist help. Unfortunately, they succumbed and eventually took their own life. Some of these people came back from the Vietnam conflict and did not talk about their concerns, as they felt they were not really accepted back into the country and society, if we remember back to those days and the demonstrations that were held at that time.

Even though I was not affected nearly as much as some of my mates, at the time of my late wife's accident I continually had vivid recalls of the time and it went through my mind that if I had done something different on that morning would the result have been different? That went through my mind for many months afterwards. However, having great parents, a great father-in-law, great friends and a great workplace, I was able to talk about my fears, recollections and thoughts and due to this I was able to confront my demons and understand that I had done nothing to contribute to the incident.

Even though it is 26 years since that incident, those recalls still come back, but I am able to understand and control them. That is the same with many people who may be suffering the same recalls: they are able to openly discuss and get their fears and demons out, although they never really leave your system. This is an issue we need to talk openly about and ensure that we do not label people with some of these signs and exclude them. We need to do the opposite and include them in our general lives as much as we can.

I ask everybody who may come into contact with anyone, including family members, who has an issue with their behaviour and you know it is not the way they normally are, to encourage them to talk about that issue, include them in your conversations, include them in your activities and not to isolate them. As I said earlier, if you isolate these people, they will be worse off. It is not a weakness to be personally and emotionally impacted by something we see in our general lives.

I take my hat off to the emergency services people and paramedics who have to attend very dramatic incidents and see very dramatic sights and have to endure the hardship and emotions of the families they come in contact with, particularly people in the regions because people in the regions know each other. When the CFS and SES volunteers who attend go home they know that it could have been one of their own family and so they always have that thought within them. It may not come into their system straightaway, but in two or three years' time that recall could come back and something may happen.

Even with me at the moment, and I am very open about this, it took me many years not to be fearful of hearing an ambulance. Every time I heard an ambulance for many years afterwards, the incident came straight back to me personally. So, to everyone here in this chamber, in South Australia, in our communities: please look after those people. When you see a sign like that, please encourage them to talk about it, because for some people, when they talk about an issue, they feel better and are able to have a better life. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (12:10): I rise to commend the motion. In so doing, I move to amend the motion in the following terms. Amend paragraph (d) to provide:

(d) notes that lifetime rates of PTSD in Australia are up to 10 per cent and can be higher in specific groups such as military and emergency service personnel;

Amend paragraph (e) to provide:

(e) encourages people who may be suffering from PTSD or experiencing post-traumatic stress to discuss openly any issues, to seek early medical advice or counselling services;

Insert new paragraph (g):

(g) commends efforts to both prevent and treat PTSD in the military, emergency service organisations and in the community more broadly.

PTSD Awareness Day is held on 27 June. Post-traumatic stress follows intense traumatic events. We are advised that it is marked by reliving experiences, including nightmares and flashbacks, the avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, hypervigilance, jumpiness, poor sleep and negative thoughts and feelings. People with post-traumatic stress symptoms may not realise or may not want to realise that they have a problem that can be treated. The goal of PTSD Awareness Day is to address this.

In this regard, I draw particular attention to the life experience and contribution to the community of Dennis Oldenhove, President of the Macclesfield RSL. Dennis's story and the matters he raises in this context are, in my view, particularly apposite. He has long sought to shine a light on PTSD, on the difficulties of those who are suffering, and on the need to do more to raise awareness and encourage people to discuss it and seek help.

In particular, he raises the importance of social networks and outlets as very important ways of breaking down stigma and stereotypes in this regard and the importance of mental health assets in local government areas and ex-service organisations that can benefit sufferers in the wider community and educate everyone at the same time. He would include gardens, parks and exercise areas in that context.

Dennis observes that too much reliance can be placed on medication as a solution, which might have the unintended effect of putting to one side and masking the impact on sufferers and the community and the risk of that further increasing social isolation. He notes that those who specialise in the relevant professions are not necessarily all appropriately qualified to assist particularly veterans and their experiences that have led to the suffering of post-traumatic stress.

We know that post-traumatic stress disorder is more common than is generally realised, and that is a core reason that PTSD day is promoted here and throughout the community. Lifetime rates in Australia are up to 10 per cent, and they can be higher in specific groups. Key examples of these groups include military veterans, emergency responders and people who have been through natural disasters, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have experienced trauma and losses, asylum seekers and refugees.

It also includes people who have been the victim of sexual assault, child sexual abuse or a victim of crime. It is a wide range and, given that wide range of people impacted and the wide range of estimates suggested, I have moved an amendment to the motion so as to be somewhat less specific about the prevalence as it occurs and, as it were, endeavour to highlight how widespread and indeed in certain respects how uncertain we still are about its broad scope.

Exposure to a potentially traumatic event is a common experience. Large community surveys in Australia and overseas reveal that 50 to 70 per cent of people report at least one traumatic event in their lives. I acknowledge and wholeheartedly respect the observations the member for Frome shared with us in relation to his particularly difficult traumatic event in his own life in that respect. Those events include a threat, actual or perceived, to the life or physical safety of a person, their loved ones or those around them. Potentially traumatic events include but are not limited to those events of war, torture, sexual assault, physical assault, natural disasters, accidents and terrorism.

Many health professionals, we are told, express some caution about the use of the disorder aspect of PTSD and instead encourage talking in terms of post-traumatic stress to ensure that where we act we do so with a view to preventing the development of post-traumatic stress and the prevention of that becoming more severe or prolonged, including by inaction. Greater awareness can certainly help, as we are advised, to ensure that people who do have post-traumatic stress seek help and take up those practical measures, including those to which I have referred, that Dennis Oldenhove has raised.

The chance of developing post-traumatic stress depends on the type of event experienced, but about 5 to 10 per cent of Australians will experience PTS at some point in their lives, and we know it is the second most common mental health disorder, second only to depression. Australian data remains limited. However, the available evidence suggests that the point of prevalence of PTSD is estimated to be around 12 per cent in Vietnam veterans, 5 per cent in Gulf War veterans and 8 per cent in current serving members of the ADF. I note the programs that have been engaged by our emergency service workers. There is much more to be done in offering practical and emotional support. I commend the motion in its amended form to the house.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (12:20): I rise to support the member for Frome's very important motion in terms of PTSD, which we know is a significant issue for many South Australians. We know it causes significant pain and suffering, not only for those people who suffer from PTSD but also for their family, their friends and their colleagues, and sadly too many South Australians are lost through suicide following PTSD. We need to do everything that we can as a community, as a parliament and as a government to work together to combat PTSD.

I particularly commend the member for Frome for bringing this motion and also for his passion on this subject. I think you only had to listen to his speech on this to see his genuine passion and concern, also his personal experience in friends and family, and even his own personal experiences. I think it is important that we all acknowledge, as the member for Frome said, that it is important that we reduce the stigma around PTSD. It is important that people should talk about their experiences. Talking about or having PTSD is not a sign of weakness at all, and we need to all work together on that in South Australia.

I think it is particularly important that this motion talks specifically about military and emergency service workers because we know that what they see when serving in combat, what ambulance paramedics and police see on a day-to-day basis, and the specific traumatic experiences that they might encounter in their work, do have an effect. They do have a significant effect on those personnel, those workers and those volunteers in South Australia, and it is incumbent upon the government to do everything they possibly can to support those workers, and also volunteers, in the job that they do and, following events, make sure that we go and support them as well.

I know in my portfolio of Health that paramedics see a huge amount of trauma. The Ambulance Employees Association has been doing a lot of work recently looking at the impact on the mental health of paramedics, what the impact of PTSD is on those employees, and sadly it is stark. Sadly, there is a great impact, and we need to do much more to help those workers, and volunteers as well, in the SA Ambulance Service to support them, not only while they are an employee or a volunteer but also afterwards, to make sure that we are backing them and providing them all the support that they need.

This extends also to police and to our CFS and MFS firefighters. It extends to the SES. It can also extend to a range of other government services or NGO services that help people in need. We do have some excellent services in South Australia, and I have no doubt that they could be expanded in the future. I would particularly like to highlight, though, the Jamie Larcombe Centre, which was built a few years ago, which is a really world-class institution now and provides excellent services for people there. It obviously provides that acute level service, and in particular many former military personnel and veterans engage with the Jamie Larcombe Centre, but there is also a range of other people broadly across South Australia who need those services.

We see what has happened in the last few months. Even though it feels like a long time ago now, we encountered some horrific bushfires in South Australia in the Adelaide Hills but also on Kangaroo Island and also before that on Yorke Peninsula as well. We need to do what we can to support those personnel, those workers and volunteers who fought those fires, those who supported people but also those who were impacted personally by those fires.

Sadly, we have been calling for some time for some additional mental health support for the emergency workers who were involved in the bushfire effort and, while some mental health programs have been announced following the bushfires, there has not been any specific additional funding being delivered for emergency workers who battled those fires. I think that that is important, and I continue to encourage the government to deliver that to help particularly the volunteers, who are the vast majority.

That brings me to the amendment that has been moved by the government today. There are some semantics to it, but one thing I would particularly highlight in terms of my concerns with the amendment is that it takes out the word 'volunteers' from this motion. Volunteers are absolutely important to our emergency services in South Australia, whether they are firefighters, whether they are SES emergency personnel or whether they are volunteer paramedics in our ambulance service. Volunteers are absolutely important. It is disappointing that they have been taken out of this motion. I think we need to support those volunteers when they encounter PTSD and do everything we can to prevent that but also to help them afterwards.

Mr DULUK (Waite) (12:26): I also rise in support of the motion moved by the member for Frome, a very genuine motion from the member for Frome, and indeed on a very important subject. Whilst I think a lot of people, when they think of PTSD, just think about how PTSD affects veterans and service personnel, as the members for Frome and Kaurna have indicated, it is actually about people on the front line in our emergency services: police officers and ambulance officers who attend horrific scenes quite often suffer from PTSD.

On reflecting on the news last night, I think yesterday the AFP were involved in a huge paedophile ring bust across Australia, and I know there people who work in the serious and organised crime units of our serving police force have PTSD from seeing the horrific images and the stress that goes with that. So this is a really important motion from the member for Frome.

I think one of the unspoken sadnesses about COVID-19 has been how veterans have not been able to socialise as they usually do. They have not been able to go to their RSLs on a Wednesday night, as they do on members' night at the Blackwood RSL or on a Friday night at Mitcham RSL. Quite a lot of veterans are gold card recipients and as part of that get free gym membership, but they have not been able to go to the gym. I know the father of a friend of mine is a Vietnam vet and the gym for him is a huge part of his mental health and wellbeing.

They have had almost two months of not seeing people as they are used to. As the member for Frome reflected on, not many people understand, especially if you are a war service veteran, how PTSD affects you. Really the only time they talk about their PTSD and their lived experience is with their veteran mates, and they have not had the opportunity for the last two months.

In terms of my RSL clubs, there is Mitcham and Blackwood, of course there is the RAAF Association at Mitcham as well and also the Plympton Veterans Centre, and the work of Titch Tyson OAM and his crew in the outreach they do across the southern suburbs is fantastic. So to the member for Frome: thank you for bringing this motion to the floor of the house. I think it is important that we talk about PTSD, we deal with the stigma and we encourage people who feel they may be suffering from PTSD to talk about it, to seek professional help, because it is only in seeking professional help and talking about our issues that can we can find a cure and some peace for those people.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:29): I rise to support this very important motion but also to support the amendment. The amended motion reads:

(a) acknowledges that 27 June 2020 is PTSD Awareness Day;

(b) notes that PTSD relates to post-traumatic stress disorder;

(c) notes that in excess of one million Australians suffer from PTSD;

(d) notes that lifetime rates of PTSD in Australia are up to 10 per cent and can be higher in specific groups such as military and emergency service personnel;

Just on that point, I take a little bit of umbrage at what the member for Kaurna said, because that includes paid emergency services personnel and volunteers—absolutely. The amendment continues:

(e) encourages people who may be suffering from PTSD or experiencing post-traumatic stress to discuss openly any issues, to seek early medical advice or counselling services;

(f) encourage society to understand the causes of PTSD and that it is not a sign of weakness; and

(g) commends efforts to both prevent and treat PTSD in the military, emergency service organisations and in the community more broadly.

This is a very important subject that the member for Frome has brought to this house today. I certainly take note of his very personal reflections in regard to PTSD. It has affected people of all walks of life, but in regard to military service it has certainly affected people in probably every battle and in every war zone throughout the world.

We have had people from our services serving in the Boer War, overseas and here in World War I, World War II and all the other wars that have happened—for example, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, several Iraq wars and a whole lot of other conflicts. Whilst I am mentioning most of the conflicts we have been involved in as a country, I also want to acknowledge the service of special service soldiers.

We have our Special Air Service (SAS) and others, not just here in Australia—but I will, I guess, concentrate on those—but from around the world who go into places they are not even allowed to tell us about to keep the world, in our minds in the free world, a safer place. Those people go to places that we will never know about and do great service for this country, and I am sure they have their own demons to deal with because of that.

Certainly in regard to what happens in the military, I had an uncle in World War II who suffered shell shock. That is what it was called in World War I as well, and I guess that, down the track, the title for it became post-traumatic stress, but it has happened to many, many people. Obviously with what happened with Vietnam—and I have spoken here before about Vietnam veterans returning home—yes, it was a contentious war, but I do not think there was the right to literally abuse service men and women coming home from a war that many of them did not choose to be in anyway.

I know I have mentioned it multiple times in this place, but my brother served for 23 years. He served in two active deployments, one to Rwanda, supposedly as a peacekeeper in the mid-1990s during the rampages between the Hutus and the Tutsis and blatant massacres. He was there as Army personnel with a small group at the base. He had some very interesting stories, and I am sure that he has a lot more that he has not told me because obviously he does not want to talk about them.

However, one that really comes to mind is when he showed me an oval where they played cricket one day in some free time, and he said, 'There are 12,000 people buried under that oval.' You could see in the stands all the bullet marks where a massacre had happened. It was interesting because that was a United Nations' service where the rules of engagement are absolutely strict and far different from warlike rules of engagement. It was about 13 years later that it was upgraded to 'active service'. It was only earlier this year in Canberra that the unit got a citation, so it was 25 years on since that time. I am proud to say that Christopher, my brother, got that.

He also served in Iraq. He was very fortunate that he did only one swing, or one six-month tour, from September 2005 to March 2006, and actually got home a week before I was elected. I mentioned his friend here before. He was as tough as nails and was on the opposite swing to him as a warrant officer. Basically, their position was about fourth in line at the base in Baghdad. As I have said before, when this bloke was getting on choppers when peacekeeping in the Solomon Islands and that sort of thing, he was so cool that he would just go to sleep and fly around.

But once he came back to Australia—and I have mentioned this before—he managed to get past the psychologists and do one too many tours. I think he did three swings in Iraq, and that was the one that did the trick. I guess what I am saying is that you can never be too proud to admit you may have a problem, because I saw one of the toughest men go through it, and it is tough.

Aside from the military—and I pay due deference to them whether they have served here or overseas, because there is great service done inside our country as well—there are all our emergency service personnel, whether they be paid or volunteers. I take my hat off to all the volunteers and the paid personnel, especially in fighting the recent bushfires, which were absolutely massive through the Hills.

The Cudlee Creek fire affected basically the top end of my electorate at Harrogate. I know there were emergency service personnel from around Langhorne Creek, Milang and Strathalbyn and surrounding areas that, along with the planes, saved the town of Harrogate. We lost a few farmhouses, of course, and that was terrible, but just to save that town was amazing, if you have ever gone up there and seen how close the black was.

Also, I was on Kangaroo Island and saw the many thousands and thousands of acres of land that were burnt there. I just commend all the people who were down there, whether it was when the fires were fully active or during the mopping up stage. It took many weeks until we got those rains that sorted out the job once and for all.

Post-traumatic stress is not discriminatory: it can happen to anyone in any workplace or in any life situation. You can get health workers who have just seen too much. I know certainly it happens to some of the emergency service workers. I am a member of the Coomandook Country Fire Service, and I know some of my friends who are just down the road at Coonalpyn have to pick up some of the carnage that happens on the Dukes Highway as part of active road crash units. I know people have said, 'We've just got to take a year off.' They are just sick of seeing the broken and dead bodies resulting from major accidents on the highway. Sadly, they keep happening from time to time.

I live in an area where, sadly, some people have taken the time to drive a couple of hours out of Adelaide and decided, for whatever reason, they want to end their own life. That has many, many effects, and that brings me to another point—where it causes massive stress. We had something the other day that was reported in the papers. It is something that happens to truck drivers, that is, people suddenly decide that they are going to steer their car in front of a truck. It has no regard for a driver who may never drive again because of the trauma.

We had one the other day that certainly looks very questionable, based on what happened. Someone in dark clothing was walking on the Mallee Highway and just stepped out in front of a truck. It is just terrible, terrible for the mental health of that person. That person may have been suffering, but it causes terrible trauma for people who do those long haulage trips to keep this country carried, especially during these times of the coronavirus.

I support the amended motion and urge everyone who may have the symptoms of PTSD to make sure that they do get help when it is needed.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:39): I rise to speak in support of this motion. I will speak in support of the original motion because, contrary to what has been said, I think the amended motion does, sadly, water down the motion. I think the original motion was quite clear in its intent and I am very happy to support that. In particular, I would like to talk about paragraph (f) of the motion.

Members who have spoken so far have covered other areas of this motion very well and I do not want to repeat what they have said. However, in paragraph (f) I would like to particularly focus on our understanding of people who work in the defence services. That is no accident as I am the shadow minister for veterans' affairs and this issue, amongst many others, is one which has been highlighted to me on a number of occasions since I have been in that role.

Many people do a great deal of work and at this point I want to commend all the ex-service organisations, most of which are volunteer based—they are run by volunteers. I would like to commend them for their work in supporting our ex defence personnel to try to re-engage with the community and also to deal with the trauma of having served in a conflict situation. Sadly, I have come into contact—and I say sadly because the people I have been in contact with have told me stories of their experiences with PTSD.

You can see, and I say you can see because I do not know, I have not experienced that, I have not been to war or served in the military, so I do not know what it is like, but certainly from the stories they tell, the ones who have survived, they have been to hell and back. There are many stories I could tell in this place regarding this matter but there is one I would like to bring to the attention of this chamber. This person has worked tirelessly in the community to raise this issue and to get action within the defence forces to make sure that we do not have veterans who take their own life because of a lack of support and understanding of what they go through as defence personnel.

In this regard I would like to acknowledge Julie-Ann Finney. Julie-Ann Finney is the mother of the late David Finney, a former Australian Navy sailor who took his own life after a long and painful battle with post-traumatic stress syndrome disorder following 20 years of service. Ms Finney, from Blair Athol, was named Woman of the Year for her community campaign for a royal commission into the rising suicide rate amongst veterans.

In April this year, the South Australian Labor team moved a motion in this place to support Julie-Ann Finney's call for a royal commission into veterans' suicide, which had the approval of shadow cabinet and the caucus, and also federal Labor. Unfortunately, that motion failed to gain the support of the state government members.

The veteran support system is complicated and is urgently in need of a royal commission examination to drive much-needed reform to simplify and improve services and, hopefully, reduce the stress on our veterans. There are a number of stories one hears of when ex defence personnel try to navigate the defence department and the DVA, and the stress that in itself causes actually adds to the pressure and, sadly, leads to some taking their own life.

Ms Finney has quite rightly stated in some correspondence with me that, 'Our veterans matter.' No-one denies that. She goes on to state:

The Morrison government continued to only put forward policies to placate those of us fighting for change. There is very little value for veterans.

It is sad that we have, unfortunately, at a federal level, a government which is not prepared to make the courageous decision to call for a royal commission and get a better understanding of the trauma that our defence personnel experience, and deal with it. This goes to the heart, I think, of paragraph (f) of this motion. We need to understand this better in all walks of life, and I think that is what the mover intended—and I support that—but particularly for people who have served our nation. Ms Finney goes on to say that David, her son:

…served his country for 20 years without question. When he needed help the ADF and DVA let him down, they discarded him and he died. I live with that. I live with the nightmare of losing a child. Unfortunately, I am by no means unique.

It is sad that that is not unique.

On Saturday 27th June, it will be three years since veteran Jesse Bird took his life.

As the member for Frome has brought to our attention, it is also World PTSD Day. She continues:

I will be at the ANZAC Centenary Memorial Walk (Cnr Kintore Ave and North Terrace, Adelaide) from 8.00am to 4.00pm. I will be tying 600 yellow ribbons to the trees in memory of each of the veterans our federal government has forgotten. I urge all our politicians to come along and spend a short minute to tie a yellow ribbon in support. We must not continue to disregard our veterans service to this country and to each of us.

The Morrison government has set up a policy whereby a new Commissioner will investigate all future veteran suicides. We have had enough suicides, there is no need for this government to call for more in order to investigate them. Prior to this new Commissioner, there will be a one-off review into past suicides. There have been many reviews to date and yet the rate of suicide amongst our bravest has not slowed at all. We need a full investigation with a Royal Commission prior to the new Commissioner being appointed. There is no other employer in Australia that has a suicide rate even close to that of the Australian Defence Force.

She goes on:

We have been calling for a Royal Commission into veteran suicide for one hundred years now, if our federal government had listened to Jesse's brave and articulate parents—

she goes on to say, rhetorically I suppose—

would my son still be alive? It is a question that can never be answered.

She goes on with this plea:

I sincerely hope to see you on the 27th June, in memory of Jesse, in memory of my son, in memory of all veterans that have lost the battle at home and in support of every veteran, past and present.

I support this motion and commend the member for Frome for moving it.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (12:47): I take on board the amendment that has been put and I am not going to make a big deal about it, but I certainly think that the message we have to get through is that we need to acknowledge PTSD and related issues. I want to reinforce the issue of volunteers. Even though the mover of the amendment may not have been clear about that, I want to make it quite clear to this chamber that we have to acknowledge volunteers and what they do because they are the ones, especially in regional areas, who are getting the worst scenario.

I have related some of my personal experiences and I want to be able to share those sometimes. I commend the motion to the house. Let's vote on it, let's make an issue of it and let's make some progress with it.

Amendment carried; motion as amended carried.

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