Australia to hold inquiry to examine military suicides 20 April 2021 - 09:36 By Reuters More than 500 have died from suicide since 2001, government data shows, a statistic that has fuelled public anger, including among the prime minister s own Liberal party. Image: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Australia will hold a Royal Commission to examine suicides among serving and former military personnel, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, bowing to public pressure to find ways to stem a mounting toll.
More than 500 have died from suicide since 2001, government data shows, a statistic that has fuelled public anger, including among the prime minister s own Liberal party.
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Labor’s shadow minister for defence,
Brendan O’Connor, has welcomed the announcement of the royal commission into veterans’ suicides, but says the decision should have been made earlier:
We are glad to see the government has made a decision, although it does seem it has done so begrudgingly, belatedly and because of the pressure that has been brought to bear upon them by the veterans’s community, the veterans’s families. If anyone has spoken to
Julie-Ann Finney, as I have, as many members of parliament have and others have, about the tragedy of her son’s suicide, David, and they would understand why she and other parents and family members of veterans suiciding needed to see this decision today.
In a breakthrough for veterans and their families, Scott Morrison is set to announce a royal commission will be held into ADF suicides. Watch the PM live here.
Labor Party
It is about time the Morrison Government has finally come around to the idea of a Royal Commission into veteran suicide.
Veterans, their families and Labor have been calling for this since 2019.
Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, we have lost more veterans to suicide than soldiers killed in combat, while more than 18 defence personnel and veterans have taken their own lives this year alone.
While we are disappointed this has taken so long, Labor now stands ready to work with the Government in a bipartisan way to ensure this Royal Commission is vested with all the powers and resources it needs.