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Jacqui Lambie wants a royal commission into veteran suicide, saying the government’s plan for an ongoing inquiry was not good enough.
“I don’t give a stuff what the prime minister says with his option because we’re not important enough,” the independent Tasmanian senator told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Families of dead veterans wanted an end date for the inquiry so they could move on with their lives, she added.
The government announced the new role of an ongoing veteran suicide commissioner earlier in February, which would have similar powers to a royal commission and deliver an annual report to parliament.
The commissioner could keep evidence private, unlike a royal commission, and Senator Lambie wanted the public to know what was going on.
“It’s over PM. We’ve been begging for a royal commission. We’ve nearly got down on our hands and bloody knees,” Senator Lambie said.
The Tasmanian senator was close to tears as she made her comments.
Senator Lambie said she wanted to know why the government didn’t consider veterans as important as other subjects of royal commissions like aged care, pink batts and unions.
“The thing is, with the royal commission, it has a start and end date and it comes out with firm recommendations,” she said.
“It is not like a commission which sits over the top like a babysitter year-in-year-out and waters down the issues.”
At the time, veterans advocates welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s commission, which will cost $40 million to establish.
Australian Associated Press
