Transcript - Radio Interview - ABC Radio SA

SUBJECTS: Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants; Defence Recruitment; Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

JESS MCGUIRE, HOST: We now know the recipients; there’s 55 of them from around Australia that are going to receive the first round of funding and they're sharing in $770,000 - it's the Government's, the Federal Government that is, Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program. Matt Keogh is in South Australia today. The Federal Labor Government, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. Minister, thank you for coming in.

MINISTER FOR VETERANS' AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: It's great to be with you.

MCGUIRE: Really appreciate it. And I noticed that you enjoy that song and you're a lot younger than me, so it must have stood the test of time, Holy Grail. 

MINISTER KEOGH: It absolutely has stood the test of time. People, interesting segue here, a lot of people associate it with the AFL Grand Final. It's actually a song about the War of 1812.

MCGUIRE: Oh, goodness me. And you're knowledgeable as well. You should go into politics. So, today a funding announcement and we'll go over that in in better detail. I wanted to ask you about the Five Eyes recruitment program which started just, you know, a week ago, two weeks ago, first of January. So, you're now accepting applications from British, American and Canadian applicants into the Australian Defence Force. We’re short 4,500 members of the target, 69,000 troops by 2030. By opening it up, the Five Eyes recruitment, what are you expecting from Five Eyes? How many people do you expect?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, what we actually did, we started in 1st of July last year. We opened up recruitment to firstly New Zealand permanent residents in Australia and we've already got about 400 of them in the pipeline at the moment. And then from the 1st of January this year, we opened that up to the rest of the Five Eyes. So, the US, the UK and Canada. And we've already got a few applications that have started to come in, which is wonderful. We're expecting to see about 350 people join the Defence Force a year from that permanent resident group from Five Eyes nations. And they have to have already been resident in Australia for a year, be a permanent resident. They can't have served in a foreign defence force in the previous two years, and they otherwise need to meet all the other ordinary checks, you know, fitness, psychological vetting, security requirements. So, we're looking about 350 a year now to come from that. And of course, as with the workforce plan that we released in November last year, we're heading towards a trajectory of 69,000 people in the Defence Force by the early 2030s.

MCGUIRE: What sort of work is done before you decide. Yeah. Ok. So, now we're going to tap into - we're going to create the Five Eyes recruitment program and go overseas to see if there's an appetite for it? 

MINISTER KEOGH: So, the circumstances that we confronted, we had the Defence Strategic Review when we came into government. We released the National Defence Strategy at the beginning of 2024. And what that highlights is, I think, something that people have known for some time, which is we're confronted with some of the most complex set of strategic circumstances that we've seen since the Second World War. And we need to grow our Defence capability. And of course that involves equipment, but it critically involves our most important capability, which is our people. But when we came into government, the membership of the ADF, the numbers were falling, and they'd been going backwards under Peter Dutton's leadership as Defence Minister. And we needed to change that. Now, that means fixing retention, it means growing our recruitment from Australians. And we've looked at what else can we do? And so we've expanded that to include- we're not going overseas. These people are currently citizens of other countries, Five Eyes countries, but they are permanent residents in Australia. They've already made a commitment to be in Australia and this enables them to join our Defence Force as a permanent resident and then take up citizenship by virtue of becoming a member of our Defence Force as well. So, they're still required to become a citizen.

MCGUIRE: Yeah. Matt Keogh is Federal Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. So, December, the Government released its response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. What's the first change you'll be making?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, just to give a bit of context to that, the Royal Commission had been going for three years and it released a final report that was over 3,000 pages, 122 recommendations. That was in September, in December. So, only a few months later, we released our government response to that, accepting, agreeing or agreeing in principle to 104 of those recommendations. And coming out of that, we are establishing a task force to look at those other recommendations to see what can still be done from those recommendations as well. And we're setting up the Commission that was recommended as an oversight body. That was recommendation 122. So, we'll be having the Defence and Veterans Service Commission, which is an oversight body, looking at government in terms of the implementation of all of these recommendations, making sure that we are properly supporting our serving men and women, our veteran community, when it comes to these issues around wellbeing and suicidality. And that work is- we'll be announcing the interim commissioner soon. So, the Royal commission said, have it set up by September of 2025. We've said, look, we'll get this in place as soon as we are able to early this year so that the work can start on setting it up, getting it up and running and designing what the legislation needs to look like so we can get that in place soon.

MCGUIRE: Okay. So, they will then create the legislation that's required around it. So, the first thing is you get the body in place because I know this is an issue that is really dear to people's hearts. The text line number for you is 0467-922-783. So, then, as the government recruits, given that mental health is such an issue, will you also be recruiting the support personnel that are required to look after the mental health of our Defence Forces?

MINISTER KEOGH: So certainly if we look at some of the recommendations that have come out of the Royal Commission and its looking at how do we support our people? We need to grow the Defence Force across so many different roles. There's actually some 300 different roles in our Defence Force and they're the typical ones that people might imagine. You know, whether it's infantry, whether it's submariners, it's also cyber warfare personnel, it's intelligence people, it's people that we need in the medical professions, whether they're doctors, nurses, medics, psychiatrists, psychologists, all of those are part of what we need to recruit to make sure that we have a well-functioning Defence Force across the board. Career managers, people that are able to support our people as they go through their careers so that they can have a successful career in the Defence Force, but also get access to the expanded training and study support opportunities that we are now providing so that people are best set up not only in their Defence career, but for when they choose to move on to a career after Defence.

MCGUIRE: So, when we talk of 69,000 new personnel, we're talking about all facets. Is there an age limit on recruitment to the Defence Force?

MINISTER KEOGH: In a practical sense, no, in that I have met some personnel that joined the Defence Force in their 50s. They're not our target market. I'll admit, we're much more looking at people that are looking to leave high school or might be looking at a career change in their late 20s or early 30s, given the nature of the work. But there are certain roles where we can be a lot more open around the sorts of people that we're recruiting and also the experience and background that they might be able to bring into a role in defence. And we do have, and I have met with some of those people that have come into Defence much later in life and some of those come in through reserve roles and other things as well. But as you would expect, the target, the primary target market here is we're looking at people that are sort of up to their mid-30s to join. As I said, there's around 300 different roles. So, people should go and look at the ADF Careers website. There's things that they would never have expected or thought about ordinarily in terms of the different variety of roles that are available.

MCGUIRE: And our audience here are those people who are perhaps in their 40s and 50s and older. There may be a few who are in their 30s and good on you for being smart enough to listen to the ABC, but we do tend to pick up people who are a little bit older. I want to ask you about a- 

MINISTER KEOGH: Can I just say to that, they might not be thinking about a career in the Defence Force, but their kids might be thinking about what their career is going to be or if they are looking at a career change. And so for parents or uncles or aunts to be aware of the opportunities that are available. So, when they're talking to grandchildren or children or nieces and nephews about what career step they might take next, direct them to ADF Careers and have a look.

MCGUIRE: The Headstone Project. This is a local project in South Australia, the Headstone Project SA, it's a group that identifies, just for the others, I'm sure, Minister, you are aware what they do. So, they identify the unmarked graves of World War I veterans at this stage who are buried in South Australia, and they make sure that the grave is recognised with a prescribed military headstone so that their service to Australia is recognised and in their final resting place. They applied for deductible gift recipient status and it was rejected. And I think twice it was rejected. Why?

MINISTER KEOGH: Fundamentally, that sort of organisation doesn't meet the criteria of what gift deductible gift recipient status requires. However, it's important to put this in a broader context. If you give an organisation gift deductible status, then it means someone who donates to them can claim a tax deduction. So, if you like, effectively, government is partly funding that donation to about 30%. We actually have a grant program for this Headstone program, so we actually provide funding directly to organisations like Headstone here in South Australia, directly to organisations like Headstone in Tasmania. And that program was funding around $400 per headstone. We've just recently increased it with the new grant program to be over $600 per headstone, recognising some increased costs and so forth. And we've been working with organisations like Headstone South Australia to make sure that the requirements around that funding are flexible enough to meet the needs of these voluntary organisations that are doing this work out of the goodness of their heart. And what's been really great is some of the work that they've done and the applications they've made for the funding, when we've reviewed them, we've worked out, oh, no, you're not eligible for the $600 grant. This person is actually eligible for a full recognition as a reserve serviceman by the Office of Australian War Graves and has somehow got missed 70, 80 years ago and so or 100 years ago. And so we've been able to give them proper recognition under those schemes as well. So, it's-instead of funding it through a tax deductible gift, we actually have a direct grant program for this.

MCGUIRE: Matt Keogh is the Federal Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. Today's announcement. So, we have $770,000, 55 organisations. Do they each get $14,000 each? And is that it now or are there other rounds of discussion?

MINISTER KEOGH: The Saluting Their Service Grant program is $3.5 million over the financial year. This is the first round of recipients which up to $770,000 for the 55 organisations. And it's really varied. Some get a couple of thousand dollars, maybe for a school to install a flagpole and a memorial at the school for their services, to commemorate people from their community that have served in wars, through to organisations that might be running programs that are regional or at a national level, up to $150,000. Today I was out with Louise Miller-Frost, the Member for Boothby at the William Kibby VC Veterans Shed, where they're going to be adding a mural across the shed which will display William Kibby, who is a local VC recipient. In fact, he died in El-Alamein a few months after my great uncle died in El-Alamein. A small connection between WA and South Australia there, but and they'll be using that as an opportunity to engage with the broader community. They already have some school groups coming in to engage with veterans at the shed, come to the Remembrance Day service. And so being able to add this mural that will have not only William Kibby, but representation across the three different services, from the First World War through to more recent conflicts and peacekeeping. They're looking at representation of a local nurse that died in the Second World War. And those opportunities, whether it's a mural like that or upgrading a local war memorial, or through to, say, a documentary series that will be shown at schools across Australia, are all about how we can make sure that we're preserving the memory of those people that have put on our uniform, whether it's to fight in a war, to participate in some other conflict, but also to engage in peacekeeping. You know, we had the anniversary of Australia's engagement in East Timor last year, which was fundamental to the nation building of East Timor as a new nation, Australia's involvement there. So, we can't forget those peacekeeping opportunities as well. And the Saluting Their Service Grant program enables that, with grants of up to $10,000 for local communities through to $150,000 for regional or national projects.

MCGUIRE: Minister, have you been asked to provide personnel to Los Angeles?

MINISTER KEOGH: The Australian government has engaged and made offers, but usually that's really actually about sending firefighting personnel, because they're the experts. And, you know, just in the same way as when we had the recent earthquake in Vanuatu, which did use Australian Defence Personnel to assist them, but also involved other emergency services, people from Queensland going over to assist as part of that, with these sorts of emergencies, you want the people that are the experts in that field.

MCGUIRE: Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, it does. Matt Keogh is Federal Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. Clearly you are from Western Australia and visiting South Australia at the moment. It appears that we're in election mode. Campaigning mode for the election. Is that-is that one of the reasons for your visit to South Australia, where it's game on?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I was very happy to be here to announce the grant that was made at the William Kibby VC Veterans Shed, as well as another grant that we provided to the museum that's at the Old Repat Hospital. They've got a great museum there of service, of wartime service, but also of the history of the hospital as well and the work that it's done. But across that, I've met with three different veteran groups, and as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I make it my business to move around the country all the time and engage with all the different groups of veterans that I can, because the work that those veteran organisations do on the front line, whether it's in commemorative work, whether it's in museums, whether it's in being able to provide advocacy services or, in the case of the shed, just the opportunity for veterans to come together, chew the fat, spin a yarn to each other. There's some other words that went with that as they explained it to me, but your listeners can fill in the blanks but it's an opportunity to come together. And for some people, it's that opportunity that gets them out of the house and gets them re-engaging in community, given what they've experienced. And so they provide really important services and meeting with then on the front line. Great opportunity.

MCGUIRE: But we are going to have an election sometime.

MINISTER KEOGH: I heard a rumour there'd be an election this year. Yeah, well, the constitution requires it too.

MCGUIRE: And you, of course, want to reveal exactly when that will be right now to the listeners of ABC South East.

MINISTER KEOGH: I'd love to give you that scoop, but that is solely within the gift of the Prime Minister to determine when the election will be. And it'll be sometime in the first half of this year, as he keeps saying. And we'll wait. But in the meantime, we're getting on with the important work of governing, whether it's announcing grant programs like this and engaging with the veteran community or dealing with the very important and real cost of living pressures that Australians across Australia are confronting, families are having to deal with. And that's why we've had programs like last year with the $300 credit on energy bills, the tax cuts made available to all taxpayers, cheaper child care, cheaper medicine. But we know that these are pressures that are ongoing and we're continuing to look at that because it's a very real issue that Australian families are confronting. And we'll continue governing and dealing with those issues. And when the election eventually comes, it'll be on.

MCGUIRE: Matt Keogh, thank you. Appreciate you coming in. Federal Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel.