Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Just to help the minister—who, in answer to my previous question, seemed to mix his metaphors and confuse his concern—perhaps he could at least acknowledge this. Labor are going to bring the assistance program formally under the control of the veterans and the veterans’ families counselling service, the VVCS, and we will also provide new and additional funding of $1 million over the four years. There would be other costs that would be absorbed. The proposal that we put forward keeps the control of the service with the ex-service community while relieving them of the responsibility of resourcing it. That was the point I was trying to make. I think the minister agrees and we can perhaps move on.

Could the minister answer as to whether he would join with Labor and index the whole of the special rate, the TPI and TTI, the immediate rate and extreme disablement pensions, to movements in the MTAWE—male total average weekly earnings—or CPI, whichever is the greater? If not, why not? Can the minister also explain the comments he made in the House on 23 May when, in relation to our policy, he said:

… what is understood by thinking members of the broader veterans community is that the policy he is bringing forward is discriminatory, it is unprincipled and it vandalises and undermines some of the key principles and key foundations that allow governments—successive governments—to implement a pro-veteran beneficial system that is characterised as being responsive, sound and principled against the veterans’ experience.

Will he join with Labor on the indexation—the whole of the special rate issue that I raised—and explain what he actually meant by those comments?

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