Doorstop, Belmont, VIC

SUBJECTS: Veterans’ and Families’ Hub/Services in Geelong; US Midterm Elections; Defence Estate Audit; Inspector‑General of the Australian Defence Force Report; Indonesia; David Jones; Inflation; Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. 

LIBBY COKER, MEMBER FOR CORANGAMITE: I'd like to begin by acknowledging the First Nations people, the Wadawurrung, and pay respects to elders, past, present, and emerging, and to all First Nations people who are with us today. I would also like to acknowledge the Acting Prime Minister and Member for Corio, my neighbour and good friend Richard Marles, and very importantly, Matt Keogh, our Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, who's been on this journey in relation to this Veterans’ Hub for some time. So it is a very exciting day. I would like to just acknowledge all the veterans that have taken part in the engagement on the hub and thank them for their service. Today is about work commencing on this hub. It is for Geelong, the Surf Coast andthe Bellarine. It's going to be a one-stop shop. It's going to have services from health and wellbeing to compensation and to veterans' services, much needed advice for many in our region. So it is a very exciting day, and I'm looking forward to seeing it complete. But for the moment, I just would like to now hand over to our Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Matt Keogh.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS' AFFAIRS: Well, thank you, Libby, and it's great to be here with Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, but importantly, local member for Corio, and of course Libby Coker, the member for Corangamite. And as the Albanese Labor Government, we have been committed to making sure that we're delivering the services and supports that our veteran communities need where they're most accessible to them. And it is absolutely the case that with local advocates like Libby and Richard, they've made sure that we are ensuring those services are being delivered not just here in Geelong, but across the Surf Coast as well, making sure that we are providing services through a hub that is providing outreach into the broader community. The Albanese Government committed $5.4 million to a Geelong Surf Coast hub, and that's what we are now here starting to be delivered through the services being provided already. But importantly, the development of this new physical hub as well. Our veterans and families hub program across the country is about making sure that when veterans need support, they don't need to be concerned or confused by the potentially thousands of different services that are out there. They know that they just need to go to a hub, and they will be supported in navigating what are the most appropriate services to provide them and their families with the support that they need. And of course, that's also an invaluable service for families as well because sometimes they themselves need their own support, but also they may be seeking support for their veteran. And knowing that there is a hub that is there for them that they can go to as a family member to access their own supports, but also to find out what's there to support their veteran in need is incredibly important. What we see here in the Geelong Hub, again, it's not just about one place to go. They're having those outreach services going out to local sub-branches on the Surf Coast and other places in the region, making sure that veterans in those areas don't have to travel too far. They can access services and be provided with advice around how to access the services and supports that are most appropriate for them. It's really important as part of our broader wellbeing package of support for the veteran community. Of course, DVA provides those supports through healthcare and mental health support and compensation and rehabilitation. But there's a broader range of needs that our veteran and family community needs to be able to access whether it's around housing, employment, financial security, and advice. All of these different areas, advocacy support, wellbeing support, are so important to support our veteran community, and that's what these hubs, where we have been delivering them around the country, have been able to provide. And of course we've now been broadening that support through the creation of our new veteran and family hub. Sorry, our veteran and family wellbeing agency. The wellbeing agency provides telephone support. It provides an online portal where veterans and families across Australia, no matter where they are, can find services that are relevant for them to provide the support that they may need, and for those who need a bit more support, that case management support that they may also require, and that's particularly important when we are supporting our Defence Force personnel who are transitioning from Defence life into civilian life, making sure they've got a point of connection no matter where they are through the veteran and family wellbeing agency, but also knowing that there's hubs like this one being built here in Geelong, and the outreach services to sub-branches in the region, so that they know when they need support, they know where to go, and that's what these hubs provide. I'm going to hand over to the Acting Prime Minister.

RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, Matt, and it's great to have Matt here. And it's also great to be here with Libby Coker, the member for Corangamite, and we're really excited about the opening of this hub. As we've just heard, the hub has been operational since July of this year, and from July of next year, it'll be operating out of the space that we're in right now. And this is a really exciting development. I really want to thank the Geelong RSL for all the work they're doing in hosting this. Libby was right to thank the veterans community. Actually, if you look at the people we've just met who are providing these services, most of them are veterans themselves, and so we're providing the funding, obviously. But this is very much the veterans community helping itself, and the services provided from here will operate across both the electorates of Corio and Corangamite, throughout Geelong and the Surf Coast, and it's going to be a really important addition to the services that are provided to the veterans community. And I say we're really excited about this. Can I just thank Matt as well as our Minister for Veterans Affairs, this initiative across the country has very much been driven by Matt, and I've had the privilege of being with Matt in other parts of the country to see what a difference these hubs can make, and we're really excited about the difference that it's going to make here in Geelong. But I really want to pay tribute to the enormous work that Matt has put into bringing these hubs to fruition, and we're very very excited about having our own one here in Geelong and on the Surf Coast.

JOURNALIST: Do you think that veterans will want to come in from outlying areas like Torquay and make the journey when you know a lot of the time they might be doing it tough, recovering from war, coming back from war? Do you think they will want to kind of make a bit of a trip into Geelong?

MARLES: Well, I might throw this to Matt as well more generally, but yes, is the answer to that question. And as we've been speaking with those providing the services already, that's exactly what's occurring. I mean, the footprint of this hub right now they were describing as going as far away as Colac, Camperdown, Apollo Bay, across the Bellarine, and as far north as Lara, so this really is providing services to quite an extensive catchment, and this I mean this site is central to that, and it's partly why this was the location for the hub, and there is parking; it's easily accessible, so we very much think that's going to happen.

KEOGH: In developing the framework for the Veterans’ and Families’ Hub here in Geelong and the Surf Coast. One of the pieces of feedback that came back was making sure that the accessibility of the hub also related to accessibility of other services that veterans may need to be able to access, and so having something that was in Geelong was important in the feedback because veterans would be coming into Geelong as the main service centre anyway. But also having that outreach into the sub-branches, so for lower levels of support, connections to advocacy, that they'd be able to do that at the sub-branch level, so they don't always have to travel into the hub, and their first port of contact with the hub may well be at their sub-branch, with someone coming from the hub out to their RSL, talking to them about what's available, what assistance they might need. Then they may be accessing other services up here in Geelong regardless, and are able to come into the hub or be connected to other services, whether they're in Geelong or in the broader region. So having a hub that's close to all of those other services was really important in the feedback in developing the hub location, but also having that outreach given the broad region that's being supported, working with those local sub-branches is an important way in which we're making the services more accessible to more people.

JOURNALIST: Temporary services are being provided out of there right now?

KEOGH: Yes, services have been provided from upstairs since the 1st of July through the model that we've funded, which has been really good to see. Whilst the work's been going on in terms of building this permanent hub structure, the services have been provided. But you know, it is a little bit more cramped up there. It's not quite as accessible, but it's great that RSL Victoria, working together with Geelong RSL, has been able to get those services up and running, both in terms of upstairs, but also the outreach going out to sub-branches as well. But of course, their capacity to provide those services in such a better way, in more friendly spaces for both veterans and for families, and a more trauma-informed design space is really important.

JOURNALIST: Yes, but what services are they providing upstairs?

KEOGH: So upstairs they're providing the advocacy services for DVA claims. They're also providing wellbeing advocacy, so that's around supporting veterans or families who come in that might need to be referred to, say, Legacy or for housing support or needing to access employment assistance. But also, there's a navigation service, so someone who will work with a veteran or family around what are their needs and what services do they need to be connected to that are already out there, and making sure that they're available. And of course, we'll also have DVA services that will engage with what happens here at the hub, whether it's through Open Arms or veteran support officers as well.

JOURNALIST: Can you talk a bit about the thinking about why you decided to convert instead of building a new one, so this is, I mean, the Geelong RSL has lost their function room for this hub?

KEOGH: When we developed the program here for Geelong and the Surf Coast, we worked with RSL Victoria around what they saw as the best way of getting the best bang for buck, frankly. And we wanted to make sure that the funding that we're providing, the $5.4 million, delivers the best physical outcome in terms of it being a trauma-informed, veteran-friendly space, but also being able to provide that initial operating expenditure as well. And I think it says everything you'd want it to say about the Geelong RSL that they've recognized the need and importance of being able to support their local veteran community, not just here, centrally in Geelong, but in the broader region, by contributing significant space to providing wellbeing support services for their veteran and family community.

JOURNALIST: Just some questions for DPM, if that's okay. Do you think the midterm result in America sends a message to Donald Trump to end the war in Iran, and what do you think the next steps in that are?

MARLES: Well, firstly, America is a great democracy, and what we saw occur over the last few days is a great democratic event. And who governs America is a matter for the American people, and we're not going to voice an opinion about that. The most important thing to say here is that our alliance with the United States remains at the forefront of our strategic policy, and we manage that alliance irrespective of who is governing the United States, and for that matter, irrespective of who is governing Australia. And that's why the alliance has been in place since 1951, really going right back to the Second World War. Actually, so I think that's the important point to make in respect of the election. In relation to the conflict in the Middle East, our point has been consistent. I mean, we want to see a de-escalation there, and we want to see a return to normality in terms of the global fuel supply chain. And that's I think really important in terms of the global economy and obviously how we're experiencing that here in Australia.

JOURNALIST: There seems to have been a really strong message sent by U.S. voters about cost of living, fuel prices in particular, and data centres as well. Do you take any lessons from the U.S. to Australia, do you think?

MARLES: Oh, I mean, we look around the democratic world, obviously. But I mean, fundamentally, we've watched an election in the United States. Obviously, we all watch it very carefully and closely. But this is fundamentally a matter for the American people. It has been a great democratic event, but it's ultimately been a decision of the American people. We clearly respect that and we stand ready to work with the United States in whoever is governing it. And right now that is the Trump administration and we will continue to work with the Trump administration, and actually, we have a very good working relationship with them.

JOURNALIST: On Defence estate sales, why not hand back significant sites like Victoria Barracks in Sydney to the National Trust rather than sell them off to developers?

MARLES: Well look, the first point to make here is that we did an Estate Audit of the Defence estate knowing that we were operating a lot of properties around Australia that we weren't using. Defence is one of the largest landowners in the country. We live in a very challenging global strategic environment. We have significantly increased defence spending, but it's important that we focus on the quality of that spend, not just the quantity of it, and that we have a Defence estate which is actually the platform from which we engage in our operations. Now, what that Estate Audit found was that there were lots of properties – 67 that we've ultimately followed through on – where, you know, they're not critical to the defence of the nation. We simply cannot afford to continue maintaining properties – not to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars – when we're not using them. And that's at the heart of what we're doing with the Defence Estate Audit and why we've taken the decisions that we've taken. We know this is challenging. We know that there is a lot of emotional attachment to a number of critical Defence sites. But we live in a very challenging strategic environment and it is absolutely essential that we are focused on the defence of the nation and on spending every cent in an appropriate way. So that's where we are coming from. In respect of heritage, all of these sites are protected by law. This is going to be a much better heritage outcome. You know, right now, Victoria Barracks Sydney, as an example, is closed to most members of the Australian Army, let alone most members of the public. This is going to return Victoria Barracks Sydney to the people of Sydney, to the people of Australia. It's going to return Fort Queenscliff to the people of the Bellarine and Geelong, to the people of Victoria. This is going to actually open these sites up so that they can be enjoyed by Australians and the stories of the service that they have provided will become much better known, and the buildings are protected by law.

JOURNALIST: A secretive inquiry into the culture within the SAS, within the Defence Force during the war in Afghanistan, found that repeat deployments had a pretty big impact on the moral and mental health of troops, and psychological evaluations were insufficient. What was your immediate reaction to those findings, and what specific practical help will be available here at this new Hub to support the families and veterans dealing with the long‑term fallout of that conflict?

MARLES: Well, there's a little bit in that question. I mean, firstly, in terms of the use of our Special Forces, there's been a lot of commentary in respect of that. The IGADF report itself went into that at some length. And, you know, we have sought to learn every lesson that we can from that review and from that report, and in respect of the Brereton report– the IGADF report. As a government, we have sought to implement its recommendations to the fullest possible extent, and that very much includes looking at the use of our Special Forces. You know, our Special Forces, let me say, are an absolute national asset. They are as important today as they have ever been and we are enormously appreciative of the services that are provided by the men and women of our Special Forces. In respect of veterans of Special Forces, I mean, all those services exist in terms of what is provided by DVA and this Hub, in terms of Special Forces veterans who live in this region, will benefit greatly from the establishment of this Hub. 

JOURNALIST: Tasmania is set to lose its only two live‑fire ranges. How will the Australian Defence Force personnel in Tasmania continue practicing essential skills that require a live‑fire range?

MARLES: We're working through what we are doing in terms of what's being provided for cadets and reservists across the country, but in specifically in Tasmania. Can I just say, in respect of that, I'd really like to acknowledge the Tasmanian branch of the RSL who've done a really wonderful job, actually, in engaging with us on behalf of a number of communities across Tasmania, and very much helping us deliver the outcome of the estate review in respect of Tasmania. And there is a significant impact in relation to Tasmania. What we've made clear is that for both reservists and cadets in Tasmania, and this proposition is across the country, but for reservists and cadets in Tasmania there will be a better outcome as a result of the Defence Estate Audit than what exists right now– 

JOURNALIST: What does that mean though?

MARLES: Well, what that means is that the opportunities to engage in all the activities that the reservists currently engage in now, same with cadets, that those opportunities will be provided. And we will work with the RSL, but other groups as well, and reservists of course, and those reserve units and the cadets to make sure that we deliver that. And we won't be moving any of the reserve units or the cadets until a better solution is in place, and we say that across the country, but particularly in Tasmania. We've done a lot of engagement in Tasmania. I really want to acknowledge Assistant Minister Peter Khalil, who spent quite a lot of time in Tasmania on this question. I've been there, of course, myself. But we are absolutely committed to making sure that there is actually a better outcome for both reserves and cadets in Tasmania.

JOURNALIST: So does that mean that they'll get the same opportunities that they previously had? 

MARLES: Yeah, that’s exactly what it means. It means that we will be making sure that, in terms of what is provided, that there are the same or better opportunities for both reserves and cadets. And perhaps the important point to make here is, reserves play a critical role in respect of our overall force. Cadets are a really important pathway for people to enter the force, and so you know we really understand the significance of reserves and cadets across the country. And the estate review has found a lot of the sites that are being operated are actually not great for them, meaning for the reserves and the cadets, and this is an opportunity to do a reset in Tasmania, but across the country, where there's a much better outcome for both reserves and cadets in respect of the spaces from which they're operating.

JOURNALIST: Alright, and Indonesia has deployed thousands of troops to Jakarta after an alleged illegal wiretapping. Is your government concerned about possible political instability in a very close neighbour like Indonesia?

MARLES: Well, look, obviously this is a matter for Indonesia and I'm not going to comment on the decisions that they make in respect of their own deployments. We work very closely with Indonesia. We are very grateful for the relationship we have with the Prabowo government. President Prabowo is someone I know very well, having served with him as my defence counterpart prior to his becoming the president. And we– really, the relationship between ourselves and Indonesia is at an all-time high with the signing of the Treaty on Joint Security earlier this year, but we'll continue to work with Indonesia and we have full confidence in the Prabowo government.

JOURNALIST: And just on to David Jones, what's your reaction to that news that the company has gone into receivership today?

MARLES: Yeah look, this is going to be very unsettling news for particularly the workers and their families at David Jones. More than 6,000 Australians work at David Jones and so our thoughts on this day are very much with those workers and their families. This will now play out in accordance with the administration process. But as that plays out, what is absolutely essential is that the interests of those workers and their families are paramount in terms of how this unfolds.

JOURNALIST: What do you think that says about retail, about major department stores as well? That you know, this business that's been around for 188 years and it's in receivership. What do you think that says about the future and the economy?

MARLES: Well, I mean ultimately, this is David Jones, which is a private company, which is in this circumstance. Again, I think the important thing to note on this day is how unsettling this news is going to be for the workforce of David Jones, and that where our thoughts are right now. And as this administration unfolds, it's really important that their interests are paramount. I think we’ve got some more questions here from Channel 7 and others–? 

JOURNALIST: Thanks so much for talking to us, Acting Prime Minister. The Business Council of Australia has released modelling showing that 70% of inflation in this country is home-grown. Does that put pressure on the government to curb its spending?

MARLES: Well, I mean, savings have been a feature of every Budget that this government has handed down. Now, the former Coalition government can't make that claim because they literally handed down Budgets where there were no savings packages at all. Under our government, savings has been a central feature of every Budget that we have handed down. When you look at the last Budget alone, and you look at NDIS alone, $37 billion worth of savings in respect of that one measure. I mean, we are very focused on the prudent management of the Budget, savings and spending is front of mind in terms of how we have managed the Budget through until now. I think, you know, you look at what is happening around the world today and we are seeing a global inflationary environment. We're seeing interest rates go up around the world, we're clearly not immune from that. And obviously the war in the Middle East and the disruption to the global fuel supply chain has played a part in that. But we also understand that Australians are doing it tough right now. We are very much focused on them and making sure that we are focused on our own spending and our own saving has been central to the way in which the government has engaged in our Budget management, as it has been to look at cost of living measures for Australians around the country. And we're doing that now in terms of bulk billing, tax cuts, cheaper medicines, and a range of other measures which are very much focused on helping Australians in what is obviously a challenging environment.

JOURNALIST: You say you understand that households and businesses are doing it tough, but the Prime Minister has been overseas in the Caribbean having lobster dinners with the King. Is that the best look while families are trying to make ends meet?

MARLES: Well, obviously I think that's an unfair question in the sense that I don't think there's any person who is suggesting that the Prime Minister should not be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Prime ministers of this country have been attending meetings of the Commonwealth Heads of Government for as long as it has been around. I mean, it's a very important meeting for us. The Commonwealth is very much part of Australia's international identity. At that event, he's been able to engage with Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister of the UK, Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, and other world leaders. It's a fundamentally important event for the Australian Prime Minister to be at, and I think, you know, whatever government has been governing Australia, Labor or Liberal, prime ministers have attended meetings of CHOGM, and that's all that's occurred during the course of this week. And had he not gone, there would have been criticism about him not being there.

ENDS