Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Eden-Monaro is a rural seat. It is well known as a rural seat but it is also a major Defence seat. I have more than 2,000 Defence related workers who live in my seat. I also have some 3,500 veterans who live in the seat. When you add together those people and their dependents and relatives, you find it is quite a significant part of the population of Eden-Monaro. We also have HQJOC, a vital cog in the bureaucratic infrastructure and operational infrastructure of Defence for this country. We also have the Port of Eden ammunitioning wharf, which I will come back to in a second.

I have a couple of questions to raise with you while I have the opportunity. I well remember that in the lead-up to the 2007 election our opponents promised that they would change the indexation formula for the Defence Force retirement benefits and Defence Force death benefits. That never happened during the six years of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government.

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