Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie had used her maiden speech to parliament to address a ‘toxic culture of cover-up’ in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The Tasmanian senator and former Army corporal also revealed she is Aboriginal and pledged she would do her best to serve “our Lord, his son Jesus Christ and the people of Australia’s greatest state, my beloved Tasmania.”

Ms Lambie warned that if the problems of Tasmania weren’t addressed, the parliament would have to deal with “an army of Jacqui Lambies in this place”.

• Lambie warns of ‘Chinese invasion’
• Jacqui Lambie likes her men rich and … well-hung

The 43-year-old called for major reform of the ADF and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, alleging they suffered from a culture of cover-ups and lies.

“I intend to be part of the greatest reforms of Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs and our Defence Force,” Ms Lambie said.

“A culture of cover-up, lies and official misconduct can be found in both the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Australian Defence Force.”

“The seeds for this failure and appalling treatment of many former members of our Australian Defence Force can be found in the complete failure of leadership at the highest levels of the Australian defence forces,” she said.

Ms Lambie called for Royal Commission to be established to investigate “obscenely high suicide rate in our young veterans; the cover-up of appallingly high levels of abuse and sexual assaults in our military; the negligent under-resourcing and staffing of our military… and the criminal waste of resources and mismanagement of Defence procurement.”

The PUP member also called for a Tasmania to be treated equally to other Australian states, suggesting a bridge be built over the Bass Straight as a solution to the high cost of transport.