DARWIN - 9 July 2021

KATIE WOOLF, HOST: Now, joining us in the studio is Luke Gosling, Labor's Member for Solomon. Good morning to you, Luke.

LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Good morning, Katie.

WOOLF: Good news, hey?

GOSLING: Fantastic news. In fact, I was on national TV yesterday, singing the praises of Territorians for immediately – and the NT Government, obviously – for immediately putting that lockdown on for a week. And everyone, almost everyone's done the right thing and Territorians get to reap the rewards. That is a great example for the country.

WOOLF: It really is. And we're so pleased, you know, particularly for businesses being able to get back and operate totally freely again. Everybody make sure you do check in when you go somewhere.

GOSLING: Absolutely.

WOOLF: You know, we've got to make sure that that contact tracing is something that can happen easily so that if we do at some point end up with a case of COVID in the community, we're able to make sure that we can trace everybody back quickly.

GOSLING: Yeah, well, the quicker you can do that, then the quicker you get tested everyone who might have come into contact and then we're back to COVID normal.

WOOLF: That's exactly right. Hey, Luke, one of the big things that you and I have spoken about so many times over the last few years is the situation with the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide. Now, we know that there has now been three commissioners who have been announced who are going to oversee this royal commission. Are you comfortable and confident with the people who've been announced and the path forward?

GOSLING: I think generally, you know, after two years, it's past time that this royal commission started. So I certainly don't want to throw any spanners in the works, and I don't know the three royal commissioners, but they seem like really experienced people and without direct connections with Defence or veterans. So they can have a bit of a clear look at things. There has been a bit of talk about Nick Kaldas running for office with the Liberal Party at some point. But look, I'm not getting focused on that stuff. I think what's important is that the opposition also can have a chat to the three royal commissioners and just get a feel for how they're going to approach the job. That's a very important job.

But I'm really encouraged by the terms of reference. The terms of reference, really on the face of it, appear to have taken in many of the concerns of the veteran and Defence community and the families. So I think I'm optimistic about how the royal commission is going to go about the timeline. So I think now they've just got to crack on and make sure that as many people as possible get to give evidence, because then we'll see where the common themes are, where people are slipping through the gaps.

We're not only addressing where there has been a suicide, but where there was an attempted suicide but then the veteran didn't go through with it, and get all that feedback from the families. Because they're the ones that are right up close to it. And they'll be able to give evidence to the royal commission that'll get us some great recommendations. And then as for every royal commission, whatever political party is running the Federal Government, they've just got to crack on with it and make sure all those recommendations are seen through.

WOOLF: Yeah, and we know that Mr Morrison announced yesterday, so he's appointed former New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas to lead the inquiry. He's going to be supported by James Douglas QC and Dr Peggy Brown AO, and has basically said the royal commission's going to inquire into systemic issues and common themes related to Defence and veteran deaths by suicide, including the possible contribution of pre-service. Luke, I know that you are a former serviceman. You certainly speak to a lot of veterans. You speak to a lot of those families. What do you reckon are really the main things that need to come out of this royal commission?

GOSLING: Well, I think the systemic view of the continuum of support. So they're going to look at recruiting through to the cultures in Defence that sometimes have bad outcomes. And look at particularly what happens when soldiers, sailors, or aviators are medically discharged. Because we’ve found that they're more likely to go down a bad track because, you know, they're patriots. They sign up to defend the country and then through no fault of their own, they're injured. And then all of a sudden, all their dreams of a career in the services are finished and they're out on the street. And so we need to look at the support we're giving to them, the support we're giving to families, and the ex-services community. I've come directly to the studio here from the veterans’ get-together down at the Mad Snake Café.  Sam Weston –

WOOLF: He does a great job.

GOSLING: He does a great job. And every Friday morning at 10 o'clock, for those veterans and family members listening, go in there and have a coffee. And this morning there's two Vietnam veterans having a yarn with local Territory veterans. One's Bob Wood who’s helped a lot of Territory veterans through with their claims, through DVA, and the other one’s my dad John Gosling, who's been training guide dogs for 50 years, and he's helping with assistance dogs for veterans. And he's a veteran himself. So it's a really great initiative. And I just want to applaud those Territory veterans that have started the Council of Australian Veterans NT. So that's a new sort of peak body for veterans here.

And I think that's getting back to your question, Katie, that's where we need to improve things. There’s these great ex-service organisations. But we've got to make sure they're coordinated and also held accountable, because they're raising money to help veterans. We need to make sure that that's coordinated as possible and that the money is going to the right places. And Mates 4 Mates will finally get the wellbeing centre established, I understand they'll be launching in the next month or so. So that'll be another step along the way for our local veterans.

But I really, really welcome those terms of reference. Now we just need them to start, for the interviews to be had, for the evidence to be given, for the personal stories of those experiences of veterans and their families. That'll show the royal commissioners what recommendations are needed to fix the system.

WOOLF: Luke, we are going to have to wrap up, but just very quickly, any idea if and when – it's probably too early to know – but if and when any of those royal commissioners or any of those chairs that have been appointed are going to be heading to the Northern Territory to have a chat to our veterans?

GOSLING: Yeah, we're waiting for a timetable to come out at the moment. But obviously, I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that that occurs as soon as possible. The quicker we get these processes going, the quicker Territory veterans and veterans from all over Australia have the say, the quicker we'll be able to get a bit more public awareness as well as where the where the places are that we can fix the system and we can crack on. But I'll be sure to keep Territorians updated through you, Katie.

WOOLF: Yeah, please do. Luke Gosling, Labor's Member for Solomon, we always appreciate your time. Thank you very much for coming in and having a chat with us.

GOSLING: No worries, Katie, thanks for your support along the way.

ENDS