Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I fully support the motion put forward by the Leader of the Opposition and feel very privileged today to speak on the importance of honouring and recognising the sacrifice of our veterans. I believe that as individuals, as communities and as governments—and, indeed, as a nation—we are indebted to those courageous Australians who have put their lives on the line in the service of our country. We are also indebted to their families, many of whom have suffered so much.

We are all aware that veterans and their families face a unique set of challenges—challenges with which they should be assisted by the full commitment of the federal government. When it comes to veterans, the federal government has a responsibility—and, indeed, a moral obligation—to ensure that veterans sacrifices are acknowledged and that benefits are paid to them on a fair and just basis. This is a responsibility that federal Labor understands, and we understand the complexity of veterans affairs issues.

The current plight of veterans is particularly felt by our most severely disabled veterans, whose pensions have been steadily eroded under the Howard government. These are the people who have paid a staggering price in the service of our country, and yet they are the ones who have been shamefully neglected by the Howard government.

In contrast, we in the federal Labor Party have outlined our policy to increase benefits for our nation’s most severely disabled war veterans. Essentially, Labor’s proposal will increase the value of the special rate disability pension, TPI and TTI intermediate rate and the extreme disablement adjustment pensions. These pensions, on which thousands of veterans and their families rely as their only source of income, as I said, have steadily eroded under the Howard government. A Rudd Labor government will address this injustice.

The problem is one of indexation. Until 2004, these pensions were indexed only to the CPI. In 2004, after prolonged protest within the veterans community, the government finally agreed to index a component, but not the whole, of the pensions to movements in male total average weekly earnings or the CPI. This inadequate indexation regime has been a longstanding concern within the veterans community. It is estimated that, because of this unfair and unjust indexation regime, the value of the pension has decreased. In the case of the special rate disability pension, the loss in value has been over $70 per fortnight.

In 1997, the Howard government indexed a range of pensions, but the above rate general pension was not one of them. The undeniable result of this decision by the government is that veterans are now struggling to meet the increases in the cost of living. Federal Labor will index the whole of these pensions to the male total average weekly earnings or the CPI, whichever is the greater. This will have a very significant positive impact on thousands of families. I strongly urge the Howard government and members opposite to see the injustice of the system currently in place and to do the right thing and support this motion, because this issue has been one of the greatest concerns in the veterans policy area over the last 10 years.

What we see from the Howard government is a cynical and tired government. They have consistently ignored the difficulties faced by veterans. That is something of which they should be ashamed. Instead of presenting a positive solution to the erosion of these pensions, the current government and minister have resorted to repeatedly telling the veterans community that this is not an important issue and they have never been better off. Quite frankly, I find such comments highly disrespectful. I find many comments made by members opposite today also highly disrespectful to members of the veterans community. They certainly deserve much better than what they have heard today from members opposite.

In contrast, federal Labor has put forward a plan to rectify the area of indexation of the pensions provided to our most severely disabled war veterans. Veterans affairs is an area I have long been concerned about, and the Labor Party is committed to being a strong advocate for veterans and their families. I feel very privileged to be able to represent the hundreds of veterans living in the Richmond electorate. My electorate of Richmond has one of the highest numbers of veterans in the country. I am often very moved by their stories and saddened to hear of the difficulties they and their families face.

Within my electorate alone, Labor’s indexation commitment will affect nearly 700 veterans and their families. Just recently I was very pleased to hold a morning tea with Labor’s shadow minister for veterans affairs in Tweed Heads. I would like to thank the over 100 veterans who attended and raised their concerns about veterans affairs policy. I feel that one local veteran really summed up the sentiment when it comes to veterans affairs when he said: ‘I did what my country asked me to do and they said I’d be looked after. Now they’ve left me behind. We’re not after special treatment just a fair go.’ It is for this reason that I support this motion to make sure our veterans get a fair go.

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