Liberal MP Gavin Pearce has spoken about his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, while calling for sweeping reforms to veteran mental health care in his maiden speech to Tasmania’s parliament.
The new member for Braddon, a former federal MP and decorated soldier, used his first address to highlight gaps in the state’s veteran support system.
He also recalled the confrontation that helped trigger Australia’s Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
“I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,” Pearce told parliament. “I’ve been diagnosed with that as a result of my active service. I don’t say that for pity.”
“I say that to let veterans out there know that, yes, you may have this thing, but there’s help available.”
The former sergeant major, who served overseas for more than two decades, condemned the practice of sending veterans to Brisbane’s Greenslopes Hospital for six weeks of treatment before sending them home without ongoing support.
“That’s not on. That is almost un-Tasmanian,” he said. “I want to see our soldiers looked after.”
Pearce also recalled a tense clash with then–prime minister Scott Morrison in the federal party room, when he confronted the government’s reluctance to establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicide.
“My hand shook that day,” he said of the moment he stood to address Morrison. “I told him that I’d buried too many soldiers in my time and I wasn’t going to bury any more.”
His words proved decisive, with other MPs rallying behind him and Morrison ultimately backing the inquiry. The commission handed down its findings exactly one year ago today.
Since then, Pearce helped establish a $2.5 million North-West Veterans’ Hub with a focus on family-centred care.
Now, he wants to build a Ronald McDonald House–style facility where veterans and their families can receive treatment together.
Switching to his agriculture portfolio, Pearce outlined an ambitious vision to make Tasmania “the agricultural science capital of the country”.
The MP, whose family has farmed in Sisters Creek since the 1800s, ended his speech with a pitch to employers.
“Employing a veteran is good for your business. They bring a set of skills and a set of values that, second to none, you won’t find them anywhere else,” he said.
