John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I inform the House that the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs will be absent from question time today. He has been representing the government at the funeral of Trooper Joshua Porter at Toukley in New South Wales. The House will recall that Trooper Porter was tragically killed when an Army Black Hawk helicopter sank in deep water off Fiji last November. It is only recently that his remains have been recovered. The Minister for Defence will answer questions on behalf of the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.

See this speech in context