They spied on me from behind a bush

They were filming my children, they were filming my friends, and they were filming me from within my house

SENATOR Jacqui Lambie says she was spied on by the government after being discharged from the army with a serious back injury, with someone filming her from behind a bush outside her home.

Senator Lambie made the claims on Friday during her emotional testimony before the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide in Hobart.

Explaining how she was reduced to “an empty human being” in constant physical pain after her military career, Senator Lambie said she battled with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs over “10 years of hell” to get medical assistance, disability payments or compensation.

Senator Lambie said she was surveilled after the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service came to a conclusion she was “malingering”.

“They were doing that from a bush behind my back fence with a camera lens coming over that fence and were filming,” she said.

“During that six-week period they were filming my children, they were filming my friends and they were filming me from within my house.”

Senator Lambie said she believed they were trying to “set a trap” so they wouldn’t have to pay her entitlements as an injured veteran.

Eventually Senator Lambie’s case ended up in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which ruled in her favour.

For a period, things began to look up – with a therapist in Launceston administering Botox to help her chronic nerve pain.

With an interest in politics and veterans’ welfare, Senator Lambie also gained a placement with Tasmanian Senator Nick Sherry.

But when her therapist suddenly died and no-one else could supply the treatment, her life once again spiralled downwards and in chronic pain she was forced to give up her placement.

“That was very devastating for me because after nine years I finally thought I could get back into the workforce, get moving on with my life,” she said.

“Having that taste of getting my life back on track and having that taken away from me again … I found it difficult to have reason to continue to live.”

Senator Lambie – who was instrumental in establishing the royal commission – tearfully thanked her family, who watched her “deteriorate so badly” after she left the army in 2000.

After her suicide attempt, the department began to provide her with the support she needed and she began to regain her confidence.

“I did make a deal with God that if you give me a second chance at life, I would fight like hell for the veterans,’’ she said.

“Because I could understand what was going on, and they weren’t getting a fair deal.’’

Despite being “completely broke” and selling her house to fund her political ambitions, the Senator was picked up by the Palmer United Party before forging her career as an independent.

“The only person who believed I was going to actually make it into the Senate was me. I don’t think anybody else did. I just had faith.”

She wept as she implored her fellow veterans to come forward and tell their stories to the royal commission.

“If you do not come forward now and tell your stories, even if you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your mates,” she said.

“I’m asking you to find the courage. You need to come forward because this is it. There’s nothing else. It is now or never.” FOR HELP IN A CRISIS, PLEASE CONTACT: LIFELINE: 24-HOUR SUPPORT LINE: 13 11 14