Jesse Bird was killed by his own government.
He was wounded by war, but broken by bureaucracy.
He warned the Department of Veterans Affairs he was close to becoming a suicide statistic. They did nothing.
Jesse’s family wants a Royal Commission into veteran suicide.
They don’t want the Government’s cut-rate coroner, with none of the independence of a Royal Commission and less than half of the resources. A glorified babysitter, hand-picked by the government, who can be fired at any time if they start asking uncomfortable questions.
If we’re going to get a real Royal Commission, we have to go now. We don’t have much time. The Government wants to introduce legislation before the end of the year. If we can’t convince politicians to reject the half-baked coroner and the review into the last 17 reviews, that’s all we’re going to get.
Jesse fought a system built to protect him. He’d want us to keep fighting. So I’m bloody fighting. Are you with me?
To win this fight, we need to get in front of everybody.
We’re rolling out content to build the case for a Royal Commission - and nothing less. Every dollar you can give goes to accelerating the campaign and boosting our momentum.
If you would prefer to use PayPal, click on the links below:
To contribute by mail, please send a personal cheque made payable to the "Jacqui Lambie Network" to:
JLN
PO Box 264
Burnie TAS 7320
Please include your full name, address and email address in the envelope.
To contribute by bank transfer, please enter the following details:
Bank name: National Australia Bank
Account Name: Jacqui Lambie Network
BSB: 087 400
Account Number: 73089 7251
Please use your full name as the reference.
Donations exceeding $2 and totalling no more than $1,500 in a taxation year may be tax deductible. Please seek and rely upon independent advice.
We do it to show the rest that it’s possible. It makes it harder for us, it costs us, but we think it’s a point of principle.
Our donations laws in Australia are broken. A donor can contribute nearly $14,000 - that’s a year’s full rate of Newstart - and it will never need to be revealed. That’s incredible.
Read the full Jacqui Lambie Network Donation Policy
PS: Hey, Jacqui here.
If you’re on the fence about whether to join this fight, I’m sorry. You’re not going to want to hear this. But I need you to pick a side.
I’m on the side of Jesse, Dave, Michael, Ian, Daniel, and next week, when the next veteran considers their own suicide, I’ll be on their side too.
Because this is about more than reviewing suicides of the past: it’s about stopping them. It’s about saving a life a week. It cannot wait.
Fences aren’t designed to be seats. If you’re going to sit on one, don’t wait too long.