Public servants at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs have been ordered to stop using the term “thank you for your service”, a phrase that has grown in popularity as a public sign of gratitude towards men and women who have served in the armed forces.
The term has also been used as a title for several government-sponsored public exhibitions to Australian servicemen and women, including during 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War last year. “Do not use the phrase ‘thank you for your service’,” the memo seen by this masthead says, along with instructions to use ‘the Australian government’ instead of ‘the Morrison government’ and to spell out titles in full. That included spelling out ‘ex-service organisation’ rather than using acronyms like ESOs. The ministerial preferences were to “come into effect immediately”, it said.
While ex-service support groups warmly welcomed the elevation of veterans’ awareness to the national agenda at the time, the term has been criticised in some parts of the veterans’ community asMr Gee places poppies on the Roll of Honour during an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney.Several Coalition MPs have interpreted Mr Gee’s deliberate decision to stop using the term as a swipe at his predecessor as minister, Darren Chester.
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