THE AUSSIE DIGGER

Independent Enquiry into the Repatriation System (1975)The Honourable Justice PB Toose stated,

"The nation has a duty to ensure that those who have thus served, together with their dependants, are properly cared for to the extent that they should never have to beg or rely on charity, ... and that those who have suffered incapacity which could be related to their service should be appropriately and adequately compensated on a long term basis both financially and by the provision of high quality medical and hospital care, ... and that compensation and other benefits should be available as a matter of right and not as a welfare handout."

"Those who would give up essential Liberty,
to purchase a little temporary Safety ,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety ."
--Benjamin Franklin

"Some, indeed, came out of this inferno of war apparently unscathed; the bounding vitality of youth for the time triumphed over the fearful shocks and strain of war. As the honourable member for Reid and others have said, when the war was over, they made haste to throw off their soldier's tunic and put on the jacket of a civilian, thanking God they had been spared, and resolved to put all thoughts of the horrors they had endured behind them . For three, five, or perhaps ten years they pursued their various civilian vocations, apparently hale and strong, and then with startling abruptness comes the end. Their strength oozes from them, their youth passes, they are broken men. The expectation of life at the age of 24 years, which we may assume was the average age of men of the Australian Imperial Force, is 43 1/2. The average death rate at 35 - that is 11 years after the Armistice - is 45 per thousand; but the men of the AIF are dying at the rate of 75 per thousand. The war is doing its deadly work, but then again how many of them are below par? They are still far from old but they are getting toward middle-age. Disease takes a thousand shapes; some of the men develop Locomotor Ataxia; some tubercular trouble but these maladies are due to one thing - a lowering of vitality. The nervous force has been reduced until the men no longer have the power to resist disease. Their war service has prematurely aged them. If a civilian, subjected to a similar strain in the course of his employment, sued his employer, no doctor in Australia would say other than that the ills from which the man was suffering were due to that cause. The onus of proof is placed on the unfortunate ex-soldier, although it takes the best of us, in the days of vigorous health, to prove anything before a Court of Law or other Tribunal. These poor men, suffering the effects of the great strain of war service, goes before a Tribunal and, because he cannot prove what no doctor on earth can prove, or disprove, redress is denied him "

From a speech by”BILLY HUGHES” to the Federal Parliament 1929.

" The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort , but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy "
M.L .King

“ You have been talking to the Government about this for almost
two years with no result, the only response after all that time
now being a judicial review of the whole policy area, but one in
which you barely get a mention “………..Shadow Minister for Veterans Affairs on the TPI Issue ( 2002 ) .

Arthur Geitzel, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, 1986
"TPI was designed for severely disabled veterans of a relatively young age who could never go back to work and could never hope to support themselves or their families."

John Howard, 5 May, 1998
"It's a reminder that the men and women who put their lives on the line in defence of our country are owed a special debt and a special understanding."

Senator Andrew Bartlett, Media Release 26 July, 2001
"We must recognise the special obligation we owe to veterans. The cost of war does not end with the last shot fired."

Zev Ben-Avi, Vietnam Veterans' Motorcycle Club
"We lent you, under contract, our bodies and minds, and had them returned in poorer condition after they were abused in the service of the political masters of the time."

Coalition Policy Document, 1996
"The Coalition will always attempt to err on the side of generosity in the levels of support it provides to our veteran community."

John Howard, 5 May, 1998
"It's a reminder that the men and women who put their lives on the line in defence of our country are owed a special debt and a special understanding."

Coalition Policy Document, 1996, plagiarised from the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia "The Coalition believes in both honouring the dead and fighting like hell for the living."

In the words of the magnificent Thomas Paine (1776):
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this (or any) crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands (by) it now, deserves the love and thanks of (all) men and women !"

" You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck "

The 1995 task force report stated:
"Veterans have made a special contribution to Australia which needs to be recognised in a tangible way.

Historically, veterans have been treated by the Commonwealth government as a special group with the provision of special benefits, income support, health care and compensation. The special status of the veteran community ought to be recognised as a special community of interest in aged care planning as veterans reach the final years of their lives and require access to a wide range of aged care services."

Hughes speech at the Premiers Conference in 1917, when he said:

We say that the care of the returned soldier is one of the functions of the Commonwealth Government. Our soldiers fight not for Queensland, New South Wales, or Tasmania, but for Australia. They are enlisted under the Commonwealth banner. They go out to fight our battles. We say to them: "When you come back we will look after you" ... the soldiers will say to the Commonwealth Government: "You made us a promise. We look to you to carry it out."

Note: Although this quote is often used as an indication of the government's general philosophical commitment to returned service personnel, the speech was actually made in a debate over commonwealth/state responsibilities for land settlement schemes for returning soldiers. The federation was in its infancy, and it had not anticipated the many ways in which commonwealth responsibilities for returning servicemen would cut into state jurisdictions, such as land management. Regardless of the context though,Hughes did say it, and he never backed away from it.

From the first Repat Minister, Senator Millen, in "The Soldier" in 1917. Asked about who will find the money to pay for repat, Millen said: “Does this matter a rap to you? Parliament has decided upon Repatriation and the Government will find the money for it. It should be enough at this juncture to know that whatever money is needed for this scheme the Government will find it.

The Curtin Government's position was articulated by the Attorney General, H V Evatt, in 1945:

“The Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act 1920-43 is not based on any well-known type of legislation. Though it may have something in common with Workers' Compensation, it is an instrument which is largely 'sui generis'. It represents the desire of the Australian people, through their National Parliament, to ensure that members of Australia's gallant fighting forces who have become wounded or sick as a result of their service shall be properly cared for, and that they and their dependants, and the dependants of deceased members, shall be provided for by a war pension and otherwise assisted in the economic struggle for life. The bearing of these forces in the field commands the admiration of the world, and too much cannot be done in the way of reparation to recompense them for the sacrifices they have made in the sacred cause of liberty.