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One veteran on average dies by suicide every 2 weeks. This is what a royal commission needs to look at
Soldier Firing Weapon Image by Amber Clay from Pixabay This is an important day for the veteran community. After five years of campaigning for a royal commission, parliament has backed a motion to establish one. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also signalled he would no longer oppose the move. For at least two decades, there have been numerous inquiries into veteran suicide, institutional abuse, mental health, the transition from military to civilian life, and combat trauma — with little positive outcome. More Australian veterans have lost their lives by suicide than have been killed on active duty since ADF personnel were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001. In October and November of last year alone, nine veterans took their lives , leading Senator Jacqui Lambie to argue veteran suicides should be treated as “one of Australia’s most pressing problems”. Thirteen veterans have tragically taken their life so far this year. A petition ca...
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (ScoMo) Among many surprising things about 2020 was how a novel coronavirus drove an equally novel upending of Australia’s political orthodoxy. The hackneyed election straightener, “it’s the economy, stupid”, got shoved aside for a refreshing new imperative, “it’s the community, stupid”. Australians unhesitatingly turned to government, embraced expertise, and willingly abided by society-wide deprivations in the interests of the whole. Read more: Australian vaccine rollout needs all hands on deck after the latest AstraZeneca news, mass vaccination hubs included Reluctantly at first, centre-right politicians fell into line. Those who had built their careers on the virtues of small-government and gruff fiscal discipline, flipped to become big spending hyper-Keynesians. Necessarily, political combat took a back seat to problem-solving. In an atmosphere of policy-not-politics, voters backed incumbent governments, marking...
Prime Minister Scott Morrison Media Release: The Australian economy is fighting back. The jobs of Australians depend on that fight. The incomes of Australians depend on that fight and we are in it and we are making progress. It doesn't mean we don't have setbacks. We are currently experiencing some right now. The unemployment figures that were released just within the last hour have been for June. In July, I expect that we will see an impact from what is occurring in Victoria. But what it has demonstrated in June that as Australia has opened up again, as people have gone back into their businesses and opened their doors, as Australians have been endeavouring to live with this virus and to press on, then we've seen Australians get back into work and this has been a core objective of our approach over these past many months and it remains the focus of our approach, together with managing the health situation in Victoria and other states as outbreaks and other challenges emer...
ScoMo COVIDSafe: The New app to slow the spread of coronavirus The Australian Government launches the new voluntary coronavirus app, COVIDSafe. The app is an important public health initiative that will help keep you, your family, and your community safe from further spread of coronavirus through early notification of possible exposure. “Australians are doing an extraordinary job to flatten the curve and contain the spread of the coronavirus, but we cannot be complacent,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “The Chief Medical Officer’s advice is we need the COVIDSafe app as part of the plan to save lives and save livelihoods. The more people who download this important public health app, the safer they and their family will be, the safer their community will be and the sooner we can safely lift restrictions and get back to business and do the things we love.” The health initiative uses technology to automate and improve what state and territory health officials already do manually. CO...
We gather again today in unusual circumstances, during extreme times to consider extraordinary responses to the twin crises our nation faces - to our nation’s health and to our economy. What we do today is what Governments have always done in such circumstances, when our nation is under threat that previous generations of Australians have done before us. Today we act to protect our nation’s sovereignty. When Australian lives and livelihoods are threatened, when they are under attack, our nation’s sovereignty is put at risk and we must respond. As a Government, as a Parliament, as a nation, together. Nurses, teachers, drivers - cleaners, doctors, police, and paramedics - factory workers, engineers, bankers - grocers, miners and farmers - pastors, priests and imams - politicians, union officials, even lawyers - mums, dads, grandparents, kids, families. All of us. Our sovereignty is measured in our capacity and freedom to live our lives as we choose in a free, open and democrati...