The brave people who risked it all to fight for our country deserve everything we can do to make their lives easier when they return home.
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But there’s no doubt that there are challenges that face returned service men and women, particularly in rural or regional areas – like the Lower Hunter.
Representatives of RSL Sub-branches from across the region had a chance recently to make their concerns heard during a round-table meeting with federal Paterson MP Meryl Swanson and opposition spokeswoman for defence personnel Amanda Rishworth.
While Ms Swanson and Ms Rishworth are not part of the governing party, they can use their positions and the information garnered from this meeting to push for a better deal for the people who fought and made it back home.
After all, the fact that these returned service men and women even signed up to fight for Australia showed that they were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Maitland RSL Sub-branch president Eric Bell (pictured) said several important issues were raised at the meeting, including access to pensions.
“Blokes come in to submit a claim for a pension for injuries or deteriorating health directly relating to their service and you send off [a claim] to a bureaucrat somewhere and they seem to be getting tougher and tougher,” he said.
“These blokes have worked all their lives, they have fought for their country.”
Any way we can get a better deal for our returned service men and women is a worthwhile pursuit.
A Fairfax Media poll last week showed that about 75 per cent of respondents believed we, as a nation, were not doing enough to look after veterans.
And the response to the question on social media drew comments such as: “No we don't and it’s such a shame” and “nowhere near enough”.
Having representatives in federal parliament take the time to sit with our returned service men and women and listen to their challenges is a positive step, but it’s only a start.
The government and communities need to make sure that the proper treatment of veterans of conflict remains a high priority, so action is taken to reduce the challenges they face when they return to the home front. That’s the very least we owe them.
