David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

The good burghers of the Latrobe Valley are in our thoughts today as they wrestle with the challenge of bushfires.

I thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important bill today. This is a piece of legislation that Labor welcomes. The provisions in the Veterans Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2013 were contained in the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. As a consequence of that it should not be a surprise to the House that Labor supports this bill seeing as, of course, we wrote the original.

The previous bill was introduced into the 43rd Parliament in June 2012. As you may recall, it passed the House of Representatives on the 22 August 2012, and in the normal manner was thereafter introduced into the Senate, in fact on the same day. However, the previous bill had not passed the Senate at the time when the parliament was proroguedin August of last year. As a consequence, it lapsed. I will briefly talk to the House about the effect of this bill that is now before the House. As I say this is a bill that Labor supports.

There are several purposes of this bill and I will speak to them briefly. Firstly, it is to amend the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act 2006 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 so that the payment of travel expenses for treatment may be approved by the Repatriation Commission before or after the travel has been undertaken. This clarifies provisions relating to advance payments for travel expenses and makes some minor clarifying amendments. Further, this bill amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and the VEA to allow for special assistance or benefits under these acts to be extended to those who would not otherwise be eligible by way of a legislative instrument made by the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission or the Repatriation Commission, respectively, rather than by regulation.

In addition, the bill amends the VEA to extend the application of debt recovery provisions to cover legislative instruments made under the VEA. It also renames the War Precautions Act Repeal Act 1920, the Protection of Word 'Anzac' Regulations 1921. It amends the Defence Service Homes Act 1918 to extend entitlement for benefits under this act to Australian Defence Force members who were on board HMAS Canberra as part of Operation DAMASK VI between 13 and 19 January 1993. It also amends the MRCA to clarify that various references to written determinations are legislative instruments and to replace references to 'disallowable instrument' with, instead, 'legislative instrument'.

It amends the MRCA to replace references to telephone and pharmaceutical allowances with reference to payments of the MRCA supplement. It amends the Social Security Act 1991 to correct references to section of the VEA. It amends the VEA to correct references to sections of the SSA in regard to eligibility for attendant allowance. Lastly, it amends the VEA to align definitions of various forms of maintenance income with those that are now contained in A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999.

The amendments proposed by the bill are primarily technical in nature, as my summary would clearly reveal, but adds flexibility for the payments of some veterans' benefits, extends coverage, makes definitions consistent across Social Security and Veterans' Affairs legislation, improves debt recovery coverage and corrects errors, which are all worthy goals. There are some small differences between this bill and the previous bill, the original bill introduced by Labor, and it would be remiss of me to not make some brief remarks about those.

One difference between the 2012 and 2013 bill is the exclusion of regulations to make reimbursements of pharmaceutical costs and treatment costs for Australian participants in British nuclear tests tax-exempt. The government has said these amendments are not necessary and, of course, for that reason they are not included in this bill. We have elected on this occasion to take the government's undertakings in that regard in good faith. But, be under absolutely no misapprehension, if this is in fact nothing more than a disguised attack on entitlements of veterans and the ex-service community and their families, Labor will be vigilant. If this is in fact a disguised savings measure, Labor will be vigilant. There is no greater responsibility for government than the defence of Australia and Australia's interests. With that comes a profound responsibility for caring for those who have offered the courage, commitment, and indeed sometimes the sacrifice that is required to deliver that protection. The Australian community is proud of our veterans and ex-service men and women. All those who choose a career in the armed services are heirs to a great tradition. Those who choose to serve give a commitment to protect their nation and its interests. It is understood that we owe it to them to ensure their service is recognised, that the nation's gratitude is clear and that they are looked after in their times of need. I am delighted that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs is resolved to bring this legislation back to the parliament and ensure that this Labor legislation is passed. I would humbly submit that he was very lucky to inherit it.

See this speech in context