Did you catch last night's A Current Affair? I had the privilege of meeting Senator-elect Jacqui Lambie in her home. She has served her country and through that, sh's had her own struggles with mental health. Now, Jacqui has promised to take this petition when she returns to the Senate, to call for a Royal Commission into Veterans suicide.

In the same A Current Affair story, you'll hear that the Veterans Affairs Minister, Darren Chester, has kindly agreed to meet with me. I know that not everyone gets to meet with ministers and politicians, and I'm grateful he is willing to take the time. This couldn't have happened without your support - more than 200,000 of you have signed this petition and I will take your names with me when the Minister and I meet.

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One thing I will bring up when I meet with the Hon Darren Chester MP is his belief that David received a great deal of mental health support. The Minister's comments show quite clearly why we need a Royal Commission. The Minister can only respond to the information he has been given. (i.e. that my son’s care was “good”). There appears to be no regard to the fact that the ADF made David, broke him, and discarded him. No regard to the fact that the DVA did not have DVA specialists available. And zero regard to all of the red flags that could have saved our man. 

Remember, David is only one of the too many veterans who are no longer with us, due to the debacle that is the broken system created by our Government, ADF and DVA.

We will not bury the men and women who served this country so valiantly and just walk away.  They have defended us, and now it is up to us to defend them. My son deserves this, all our veterans deserve this.

I remain the proud mother of David Stafford Finney.

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If you or someone you know needs help, please phone Lifeline on 131 114, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.