The defence and veterans’ affairs ministers will today both give evidence under oath to a long-running inquiry into military suicides, while an organisation representing elite special forces soldiers claims it hasn’t been given an opportunity to appear.
Richard Marles and Matt Keogh will take the stand on Thursday in Sydney for a public hearing of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (RCDVS) which is due to deliver its completed report in September.
Ahead of the ministerial appearances, the Australian Special Air Service Association (ASASA) representing SAS soldiers has expressed “extreme disappointment” that its request for a hearing has been “ignored without explanation”.
In its second written submission to the RCDVS, the ASASA, which represents numerous Afghanistan War veterans, claims there has been a “deliberate effort by the commission to exclude us from the list of witnesses for unexplained reasons”.
“The RCDVS decision has fuelled a sense amongst some SAS veterans that the RCDVS is a part of a Canberra cover-up, determined to avoid the tough issues which link the overuse of SF (Special Forces) in the war to veterans’ suicide,” the submission states.
“It is normal for royal commissions to hear from a broad range of witnesses across the community to ensure all voices are heard,” ASASA chairman Martin Hamilton-Smith said.
“The credibility of the RCDVS’s hinges on getting to the truth and bringing that truth to power by asking the right questions and by getting the right answers on veteran’s suicide.
“SAS veterans were encouraged by the ASASA to appear as individuals before the RCDVS but some SAS veterans amongst our membership did not want to appear in person and asked us as their association to represent their views.”
A royal commission spokesperson insisted it has “looked closely at matters relating to the elite Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) as part of its inquiries into cultural and systemic issues contributing to high rates of suicide and suicidality in our defence and veteran population”.
“The royal commission has engaged with the ASASA throughout the course of its inquiries, including inviting the Association to participate in a roundtable with commissioners in November 2021, and to meet with the Royal Commission’s Community Engagement Team in February 2023.
“Commissioners and staff met with members of the SASR and representatives of the ASASA during separate visits to Campbell Barracks, Perth, in early 2023 to hear firsthand about their experiences of military life.”
The RCDVS spokesperson also insisted that submissions provided by the ASASA had helped inform the royal commission’s inquiries, which included a special closed hearing into matters relating to the SASR in Perth during May last year.
“This inquiry has also benefited from statements and submissions from past and present members of the SASR,” the spokesperson added.
An Albanese government spokesperson declined to comment on Thursday’s scheduled appearances by the defence and veterans’ affairs ministers, except to acknowledge they would give evidence.
When in opposition, Labor supported calls for the Morrison government to establish the royal commission, which eventually began in July 2021.