Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I note that the Department of Veterans' Affairs had a budget in financial year 2016-17 of $11.7 billion. By my calculations, the cost of having a deputy commissioner in the Northern Territory office, which we do not currently have, is about $30,000. I am wondering whether we can find $30,000 per annum to make sure that veterans in the Northern Territory are represented the same as anyone else in this country. If you refer to the organisational chart of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, which has a blank in the Northern Territory, it is because we have not got a deputy commissioner for veterans' affairs. I think it would help veterans in the NT if they were represented with a deputy commissioner, the same as anyone else around the country. Having written to the minister on 28 August, can we get an answer as to when the Northern Territory will have a deputy commissioner for veterans' affairs reappointed?

Now $30,000 does not seem like a large amount of money, so, if it is cost cutting, it is probably not a good area to cut. I have made various communications with your office and just ask that, on behalf of veterans of the Northern Territory, we get some answers as to when that reappointment will occur.

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