Australia politics live: ADF suicide figures tabled in parliament report ‘three deaths every fortnight’ | Australia news

Caitlin Cassidy

ANU student wins appeal against expulsion for pro-Palestinian activism

A student at the Australian National University says winning her expulsion appeal is a “victory for all students” who have faced disciplinary action for their pro-Palestinian activism, vowing the “fight will continue” on campuses.

Beatrice Tucker was suspended in May and became the first Australian student to be expelled a month later for comments she made refusing to unequivocally condemn Hamas on ABC radio. A petition calling on her expulsion to be retracted collected more than 1,200 signatures in the following three months. Tucker said:

At campuses across the country, students have faced disciplinary action for speaking out to free Palestine and for taking action against the genocide in Gaza … it can never be a crime to uphold the right of oppressed people to resist occupation … the fight to cut all of ANU’s ties with the Israeli apartheid state and the Labor government’s support for genocide will continue.

The Zionist Federation of Australia president, Jeremy Leibler, said it was “beyond comprehension” that ANU has overturned her expulsion, labelling it a “failure of leadership”. He said:

ANU is setting a loud and clear precedent to other students that they can say and do whatever they want with zero consequences.

A spokesperson for ANU told Nine Newspapers it didn’t comment on specific disciplinary matters but took seriously “any alleged behaviour or speech that contravenes our values as a community, and which go against our codes of conduct”.

Sydney commuters could once again face delays on the train network as the union pledges to shut down a major line amid opposition to Metro conversions.

The NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union told members it would suspend all work on the T3 Bankstown Line from 18 September if the NSW government does not negotiate on the Metro upgrades, the AAP reports.

“Forcing a genuine conversation about the Bankstown conversion – one that hits on the facts and isn’t manipulated by a distracting shiny new toy,” the union said in a statement.

“At the core of these actions is ensuring that trains continue to run on the Bankstown Line and it is not closed as planned to deliver the Metro conversion.”

The union says the conversion of the T3 line between Bankstown and Sydenham would be unsafe and while Metro is the “fad of the month” the Bankstown line is a “different beast”.

“Automation for the sake of automation,” it said.

“It’s easier to bargain with machines than unionised workers.”

The planned action will involve a ban on all work on the T3 line and a pledge to only work the timetable as it stands on Monday.

The planned strike is the most significant action the union has threatened against the Minns Labor government.

Daisy Dumas

Thank you, Amy Remeikis. Let’s get on with the remainder of today’s news:

Norway’s defence minister emphasises linked nature of Europe and Indo-Pacific

The visiting Norwegian defence minister, Bjorn Gram, says that northern Europe and the Indo-Pacific are not as dissimilar as might immediately meet the eye.

Speaking with Afternoon Briefing, he said:

We have a war going on in Europe. The Russian attack on Ukraine. We see that countries like China and North Korea are facilitating the Russian ability to attack Ukraine in different ways. So that’s one illustration of how these two regions are more and more interlinked.

Focusing closer to (his) home, he would not be drawn on Ukraine’s calls for permission to use long-range missiles.

“We don’t comment on terms of rules and engagement that we do for our donations to Ukraine. But, of course, Ukraine has totally aligned with international law when they also attacked Russian military capabilities within Russia proper,” he said.

And, while Gram wouldn’t comment on a US election outcome, he said Trump “had rhetoric that was difficult for Nato … I think when it comes to the security situation in the higher north, there are also some American interests there. I think when everything’s settled down, our cooperation will continue to grow in a positive way.”

Amy Remeikis

The parliament is starting to slow down, but the Canberra team will keep an eye on everything that is happening for you.

I will hand you over to Daisy Dumas for the rest of the evening – but I’ll be back early tomorrow morning for more politics live (and party room meeting day! Hurrah!)

Until then – take care of you.

Marles says Labor will respond to report ‘in a timely manner’

How will the government respond to the report? Richard Marles:

I’m not going to go into each and every recommendation as you probably would imagine, given that the report has literally just been handed down. But I want to make a couple of points more generally.

We very much support the thrust of the royal commission.

We believe that the work that it’s done is profoundly important and that the report itself is profoundly important.

Without knowing – or still in the process, I should say, of going through the specifics of the recommendations, we do understand the direction in which the royal commission has gone.

And we will support the thrust of the recommendations that are made. We want to take the time, obviously, to go through each of them. But in taking that time, I also want to make this point; we will respond to this shortly. And in a very timely manner.

We understand how important it is to that there is clarity provided in terms of the government’s response and we will make that happen.

Marles acknowledges importance of transition back to civilian life for defence personnel

Richard Marles is speaking about the royal commission report on the ABC and he is asked about one of the issues which was raised – transitioning back into civilian life. He says:

I think transition is a really important issue. And I think there are gaps around the question of transition. So I do recognise that. And this has been a focus of the royal commission’s efforts.

When I appeared in front of the royal commission myself, which was an unusual step for a sitting minister to appear before a royal commission, this was very much a focus of the royal commission at that point, and I made clear in my testimony then that I understood the significance of transition as an issue.

We need to get it right. I think the other point that was certainly being made by the royal commission throughout its hearings is that there’s been a lot of work by a lot of different reports and investigations and inquiries in the past. They want this one to make a difference.

So in terms of having a standing body, they see that as being an important part of that. Again, without responding directly to the recommendation, we absolutely are committed to making sure that this royal commission makes a difference and that its recommendations last.

Strata insurer Steadfast Group suspends ASX trading after ABC report

Stephanie Convery

Major strata insurance broker and underwriter Steadfast Group has suspended trading on the ASX today after a story in the ABC this morning alleged the company had engaged in misleading its clients.

The allegations included that a Steadfast-owned broker, engaged by a Sydney owners’ corporation to provide insurance quotes for their residential building, had recommended a more expensive policy from a Steadfast-owned firm while hiding a cheaper quote from a competitor.

The article was a teaser story ahead of an episode of Four Corners, scheduled to air tonight, called “The Strata Trap”.

In a statement to the ASX, Steadfast requested the trading halt until such time as it had made a statement in response to the ABC’s story, or the opening of trade on Wednesday morning – whichever came first.

The story also prompted the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, to call for strata insurance commissions to be banned. She told the ABC:

There are a set of hidden arrangements that are … not disclosed, but also circumvent disclosure of fees … The receipt of hidden payments and commissions of whatever nature is misleading consumers.

The tabling of the royal commission report into defence and veteran suicide

As the parliament accepted the final royal commission into defence and veteran suicide report, Tanya Plibersek made her way to the speakers’ gallery where Julie-Ann Finney was sitting. Finney was understandably emotional, given what she has been through to get to this point.

Mike Bowers said Plibersek looked up and saw Finney, and made her way upstairs to comfort her.

(No one is allowed to take photos or footage of the galleries, unless the speaker acknowledges someone specifically by name or title)

Question time through the Bowers lens

Here is a bit more from how Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large, Mike Bowers, saw Question Time:

Daniel Hurst

Further recommendations on responses to veteran suicides

(Continued from previous post)

Also among the recommendations:

• Improve organisational culture and leadership accountability to increase member wellbeing and safety.

• Amend the annual performance appraisals of ADF leaders (from the rank of colonel to the rank of general) to include upward feedback from their direct reports and assessment against outcomes-based targets related to culture, health and wellbeing.

• Codesign “a new doctrine recognising that operational readiness depends on a healthy workforce”.

• Understand the prevalence and effects of military sexual trauma and improve responses to support victims and “prioritise the prevention of sexual misconduct in the Australian Defence Force”

• Improve the military justice system, including having the inspecto -general of the Australian Defence Force initiating an inquiry “into the weaponisation of the military justice administrative system by the end of 2024”.

• Have an inspector general inquiry into all deaths of serving members “unless suicide can be excluded as the cause of death”.

• Reduce stigma and remove structural and cultural barriers to help-seeking.

• Increase the Department of Veterans’ Affairs fee schedule so it is aligned with that of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

• Establish a new executive agency focused on veteran wellbeing, to have “distinctive branding” but be “administratively nested within” DVA.

• Improve the ability for future royal commissions to undertake their work, including amending the Royal Commissions Act “so there are meaningful consequences for noncompliance with a compulsory notice” and “allow royal commissions timely access to material covered by public interest immunity”.

Daniel Hurst

A look at the royal commission’s recommended responses to the issue of defence and veterans suicide

Returning to the royal commission’s 122 recommendations, some of the key ones include:

• Establish a new statutory entity to oversee systemic reforms “across the whole defence ecosystem” and provide “independent oversight and evidence-based advice” to improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and ex-serving ADF members.

• Improve support for all recruits in training “to build resilience and embed help-seeking behaviours”.

• Mitigate the adverse effects of the posting cycle on ADF members and their families, including “measures to reduce the frequency of relocation” and to better support family members.

• Support all serving members “to decompress, rest and reintegrate, especially after high-risk experiences”.

Opposition reactions to a slice of fried gold(mine), in pictures

Mike Bowers was in the chamber and caught Sussan Ley having some thoughts, feelings and emotions during Tanya Plibersek’s answer on the goldmine tailings dam.

There isn’t too much to say about the return to QT other than to point out that Peter Dutton did not ask a single question. It is all back to the cost of living and inflation and how Labor is managing the economy, at least from the Coalition side of things.

After finishing the last parliament sitting without asking about the economy, it is a return to what the Coalition said it would focus on at the beginning of the latest reset (there have been so many of them).

Let’s see if it keeps up during the week.

The House moves on to the next order of business, returning to the Future Made In Australia legislation debate.

Barnaby Joyce says ‘something wrong’ when veterans are more likely to die as civilians than while serving

Barnaby Joyce also speaks on the tabling of the royal commission report:

We have a responsibility in this nation that when someone signs their name on the dotted line, therefore they offer their life for this land, that we protect them when they come home.

There is something wrong when a person is more likely to die once they’ve finished their service and get back on to civvy street then [when] they are actually in the service.

And this is something that I hope on a bipartisan level. We work to our very best, and I’d like to acknowledge the minister here at present to get to expedite this process, get it through, get it resolved out of respect for those who have died.

The royal commission report, tabled in parliament a short time ago, states:

The number of deaths by suicide among those who serve or have served in the ADF is unacceptably high. Between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2021, there were 2,007 confirmed suicide deaths of individuals who had served at least one day in the ADF since 1 January 1985. An average of 78 serving or ex-serving ADF members have died by suicide each year for the past 10 years. This equates to an average of three deaths every fortnight.

As large as these numbers are, they underestimate the scale of the problem. These figures do not include deaths by suicide of veterans who separated from the ADF before 1985, thereby excluding many Vietnam veterans.

In addition, these figures underreport suicide deaths before 1997, as death records from this time were not as comprehensive. These figures also only include deaths officially recorded as suicide, and therefore exclude deaths where the intent of the deceased could not be determined.

The rate of suicide among serving and ex-serving ADF members has persisted over time. The suicide rate for males serving in the permanent forces was 13.9 per 100,000 population per year in 1997–99, and 14.4 per 100,000 population per year in 2019–21.

The suicide rate for ex-serving males was 26 per 100,000 population per year in 2005‒07, and 28.4 per 100,000 population per year in 2019‒21.

– Support for veterans and their families is available 24 hours a day from Open Arms on 1800 011 046 and Safe Zone Support on 1800 142 072.

Daniel Hurst

Report into defence and veteran suicde contains 122 recommendations

The three-year royal commission, which was led by the former New South Wales police deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas as chair alongside two fellow commissioners, heard evidence from more than 340 witnesses. It also conducted almost 900 private sessions and received more than 5,800 submissions.

The seven-volume report – presented to the governor general, Sam Mostyn, this morning and then tabled in parliament after question time – includes 122 recommendations.

The commissioners state in their foreword:

Whether the work of this royal commission will contribute to a reduction in rates of suicide and suicidality among serving and ex-serving personnel now largely depends on the Australian government and its agencies: the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

As commissioners, we insist that it is both necessary and possible to reduce the number of deaths by suicide and experiences of suicidality among serving and ex-serving ADF members. Our sailors, soldiers and aviators deserve to receive the protection and support they need to thrive, grow and heal, both during their time in service and beyond

– Support for veterans and their families is available 24 hours a day from Open Arms on 1800 011 046 and Safe Zone Support on 1800 142 072. Hayat Line is a free and confidential crisis support line for Muslims on 1300 993 398.

Marles says Labor will carefully consider recommendations from report

Richard Marles in a statement said:

I thank the members of our defence force, our veterans and their loved ones who bravely shared their stories with the royal commission. This has been a thorough inquiry, and we will take the time to carefully consider the recommendations of the final report.

Our priority is ensuring that those who pursue a career in the ADF have a safe and inclusive workplace and are supported from the time they join, through transition, and after service.

Richard Marles is now tabling the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide’s final report.

He acknowledges Julie-Ann Finney, who is in the gallery watching, for her role in pushing the commission.

Once tabled, it will be made public. The government response will take some time though.

– Support for veterans and their families is available 24 hours a day from Open Arms on 1800 011 046 and Safe Zone Support on 1800 142 072. Hayat Line is a free and confidential crisis support line for Muslims on 1300 993 398.