The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has told the mother of a veteran who took his own life she cannot give public evidence until after the federal election because she intends to run as a candidate, despite already hearing testimony from another witness whose name will also be on the ballot in May.
Julie-Ann Finney was one of the most high-profile campaigners for the establishment of the national inquiry following the death of her son David in 2019, and a vocal critic of the Morrison government's original alternative proposal.
"The commission notes that Ms Finney has stated that she intends to run as a candidate for the Senate in South Australia," solicitors for the inquiry wrote to Ms Finney on March 11, in an email obtained by the ABC.
"In the circumstances, the commissioners do not consider it would be appropriate for Ms Finney to give oral evidence at a public hearing before the election.
The royal commission conducted its first round of public hearings in Brisbane in December, where one of the witnesses was retired commando Major Heston Russell.
Mr Russell is running for a Senate seat in Queensland and plans to field at least nine other candidates as the leader of his newly formed Australian Values Party.
He discussed his political ambitions in a series of public statements months earlier on both social and traditional media, confirming that he "definitely" wanted to "have a run myself" in an interview with Paul Murray of Sky News in early September.
"The royal commission was not aware of Mr Russell's political ambitions when he gave evidence in Brisbane," a spokeswoman for the inquiry told the ABC.
Mr Russell used the December 3 hearing to share insights from his long career in Australia's special forces and observations about the way soldiers were selected, trained and released into civilian life.
His party was formally registered in January.
Evidence feels 'tainted somehow'
Ms Finney has already contributed to the royal commission in a private session and had originally been offered a chance to speak publicly at the same December hearings in Brisbane, but told the commission she was not yet ready to do so.
She then asked to appear in the fourth round of hearings underway in Canberra this week.
The commission's solicitors said they would be in touch "after the results of the election are available" to book an alternative date.
Ms Finney told the ABC the decision made her feel like her evidence was "tainted somehow".
The spokeswoman for the inquiry said the royal commission was "independent of government and politics".
"It's appropriate to keep these matters separate," she said.
Ms Finney announced her intention to run for a federal Senate seat in South Australia in December under the banner of the recently formed Local Party of Australia, which was registered with the Electoral Commission in March this year.
She rose to national prominence in her campaign for the Royal Commission and was pictured on the front page of the Daily Telegraph in December 2019.
Ms Finney led a delegation that met with Scott Morrison in February 2020, one week after the prime minister had rejected the idea of a royal commission — saying such a judicial inquiry would not be "enough" and instead announcing his own "better" model for a standing veteran suicides commissioner.
She went on to say she was not convinced and continued to campaign for the original proposal.
Ms Finney was watching from the public galleries during an emotional debate in the House of Representatives a year later in March 2021, when the government first said it would "not oppose" a push from crossbench senators to establish a royal commission.
Government MP and veteran Phil Thompson turned to Ms Finney and said: "I want to talk to you Julie-Anne. That's why we're here."
The government abandoned its longstanding reservations and called the inquiry last April.
