What we should be asking "why do our veterans not feel proud enough of their service to even identify themselves?.
The only country that promotes its military to that extent is the United States.
Australians don’t engage in the same type of jingoism Americans do. It isn’t an issue that needs fixing, it is our culture. We see being in the military as a job just like any other, some roles in the military carry a greater risk of harm than most civilian jobs but then again a lot of them don’t, as ruprecht pointed out. It is a cultural difference because us Australians don’t automatically heap platitudes on people for belonging to a particular group, we recognise what we do as individuals. Just because people in America did it to you doesn’t mean that Australians should start doing the same.
I’m sure if I was rescued by military forces I would thank them, just as if I had a doctor perform lifesaving surgery on me I would thank them or if I had a child who was struggling at school and a teacher went out of their way to help my child I would thank them, but would I automatically thank every single soldier, doctor or teacher I met? No.
This proposal is getting almost exclusively negative feedback, even the Australian Defence Association isn’t supporting it.