Royal Commission Mission into Defence and Veteran Suicide

Journalist: Fergus Gregg

Courier Mail

The president of a regional RSL sub-branch has called for greater support for veterans old and young. Mackay RSL sub-branch president Ken Higgins joined Dawson MP Andrew Willcox to support the Albanese government’s expected establishment of a Defence and Veteran Service Commission. For Vietnam War veteran Ken Higgins, the findings of the report represented the reality he faced coming home from combat, when doctors told him he’d developed a personality disorder.

Mr Higgins hopes the new facility will allow younger veterans to bring their families and enjoy beach volleyball, swimming and more. Photo: Fergus Gregg “He said ‘you’re a different person now than when you went over to Vietnam because of what you’ve been exposed to’,” Mr Higgins said. “I said ‘that’s not good enough, I said is there any assistance out there?” Directed to a country GP, who Mr Higgins said didn’t have a clue, he suffered with the aftermath of his time in Vietnam but tried his best to “live a normal life”. Mr Higgins hopes the reforms promised by the government will assist his own efforts to support younger veterans, pointing to the new Mackay RSL sub-branch HQ at Illawong Beach

The Mackay Memorial Services and Community Wellness centre is open for business, providing a home for our heroes and new community facilities. Photo: Fergus Gregg “This facility here is fantastic for that because it’s tranquil, it’s on the ocean, it’s peaceful,” he said. Mr Higgins is hoping in the long term he’ll be able to bring allied health services to the Illawong Beach hub. “What we’ve got to do now is prove that we can make sure that it’s sustainable and that everything we do here will be just a step forward for our veteran family,” he said.

The facility at Illawong Beach also has a laser tag arena. Photo: Fergus Gregg Mr Higgins and Dawson MP Andrew Willcox believe providing more mental-health services to veterans will be a vital part of supporting them moving forward. “Tragically we have lost thousands of veterans to suicide over the last five years,” Mr Willcox said. “We need to do more to support veterans who fought for us so we could live in a better world.” The new commission will be tasked with overseeing reforms based on the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide Final Report and the LNP MP said the Coalition would support the government in implementing the report’s recommendations. “This is way beyond politics,” Mr Willcox said. “If these fine men and women are good enough to put their lives on the line, their bodies on the line for our country, we need to make sure that we provide them with the appropriate level of support.”