Your thanks mean less if you cannot count us

Dear Editor,

Veterans already have power. It is called a vote.

The problem is not that veterans, families, carers, friends and supporters lack weight. The problem is that politicians do not have to see that weight in one place, in their own electorates, where it might actually worry them.

So the system gets away with treating us one at a time.

One file. One delay. One family worn down. One polite letter that says very little. One problem that can be managed, deferred or explained away.

That’s why I built Veterans Count.

It does not ask for names, service numbers, Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) claim details or medical information. It simply counts veteran-connected Australians by federal electorate.

That matters because politicians understand seats. They understand margins. They understand local numbers.

Public thanks are easy. A visible veteran-connected count in an MP’s own electorate is harder to ignore.

Veterans Count is not party politics. It is not a complaint page. It is a quiet way to show MPs that the people they thank in speeches also live, vote and watch in the seats they claim to represent.

Go to Veterans Count and be counted – anonymously: veteranscount.com.au 

I expand on this argument at markcroxford.net/read

Regards,

Mark Croxford
20-year Navy veteran and
former media and political adviser to a Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

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