Scott Morrison needs to listen to veterans, advocates and the will of the Parliament and establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicide immediately.
The motion to establish the Royal Commission was put and passed the House of Representatives late yesterday.
As the motion notes, Australian Defence Force personnel have a suicide rate nearly twice that of the wider Australian community. More veterans have died by suicide than in war in the past 20 years.
This is a black mark against us as a nation that we have allowed so many people who have served their country to needlessly die.
These are the people who put on our uniform, in our name, to protect our nation.
We owe it to those that have gone, but it is essential for those who remain.
Labor has called for a Royal Commission into veteran suicides since December 2019, and we are pleased this is something the Parliament now wants too.
Labor co-signed the motion that passed the Senate unopposed last week along with the Greens and crossbench Senators. And now the same motion has just been passed unopposed in the House.
It is now up to the Prime Minister to follow the will of the Parliament and of the people and establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicides.
You only had to see the number of people rallying outside Parliament today in the rain to understand there is overwhelming support for a Royal Commission.
It’s what veterans and families want, it’s what the experts want, and it’s what thousands of Australians want.
Now we know it’s what the Parliament wants too.
Scott Morrison needs to do the right thing and give the grieving families of veterans the proper investigation they deserve.
The Prime Minister needs to act now.
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