The mother of a soldier who took his own life has angrily accused the Morrison government of failing grieving parents and demanded a royal commission into veteran suicide.
Julie-Ann Finney said herself and other mothers were offered medals to mark the loss of their children who had taken their own lives.
"I don't know what that would look like. Maybe a little rope or a bottle of pills that I can wear saying that my child committed suicide?" she said through tears.
Ms Finney, whose son David died in 2019, said the government was more interested in placating people than holding a major inquiry to address the issue.
"I'm not going to be placated. My son is dead," she said.
"I have to live with it. That is my story. That is not enough. A trauma-informed approach, we need an investigation."
The issue has returned to the spotlight with the coalition's bill to establish a national commissioner for defence and veteran suicide prevention short of the support it needs to pass the Senate.
Veterans' families want a royal commission, which has the support of independent senator Jacqui Lambie and Labor.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is concerned the new commissioner could become a glorified coroner holding hearings in secret.
"This is an issue which Labor didn't come to lightly when we made the decision to call for a royal commission into veteran suicide," he said.
"We did so after talking to the families of those who had lost loved ones, people like Julie-Ann Finney."
A Liberal-chaired Senate committee has called for the government's bill to be passed but recommended considering whether the commissioner should cover attempted suicide.
The report also encourages the government to consider reviewing the role and look at the importance of independence in recruiting the commissioner.
Labor and Senator Lambie both issued dissenting reports calling for the bill to be opposed in the upper house.
"This is a bill that's supposed to help veterans and their families. But families don't want this. Veterans don't want this," Senator Lambie wrote.
The former soldier believes a national commissioner is a poor substitute for a royal commission.
"The most egregious flaws with this proposal are structural and irredeemable," she said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued the national commissioner will be "bigger and better" than a judicial inquiry because of its ongoing nature.
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