Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

The Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme offers ADF members, veterans and their widows a range of insurance products with broad coverage and often little or no excess. The Defence Service Homes Amendment Bill 2019 expands eligibility for coverage under the insurance scheme to include all current and former members of the Australian Defence Force, including reservists and peacekeepers, who have completed at least one full day of service. Currently, ADF members are required to complete varying periods of service before they are accepted into the defence home insurance scheme. Other ADF members and veterans ineligible for the scheme are required to pay higher home building insurance premiums as a consequence of being based in high-peril risk locations, including across northern Australia.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been investigating the pricing and availability of insurance for consumers in northern Australia since 2017. The ACCC's first interim report, released in December 2018, found 'home, contents and strata premiums are, on average, considerably higher in northern Australia than the rest of Australia' and that they have increased sharply in recent years in light of a series of natural disasters, such as Cyclone Debbie in 2017. While home and contents insurance prices rose by 50 per cent across Australia between 2008 and 2018, prices rose by 130 per cent for the same period in northern Australia. In real terms, insurance premiums in northern Australia ranged between $2,200 and $4,000 per annum while the national average is around $1,300 per annum. One factor in the high insurance schemes is the lack of competition. The insurance market in northern Australia is concentrated, with some regions dominated by a single insurer. This bill will provide another choice to those ADF members and their families who have made their homes in northern Australia. The bill highlights the often overlooked financial implications that accompany a life of service, and I hope the concessional home building insurance provided through the scheme will go some way to reduce the costs of living faced by veterans and their families.

There is also an emotional and social cost for those families who uproot themselves from close family and friends to follow their loved one to a new Army, Air Force or Navy base in a new town or even a new state. One small thing the ADF can do to help with the stress of relocating is provide those families with an opportunity to spend quality time together. The Army Amenities Fund Company, which is administered by the Army Amenities Fund Board, operates a series of holiday homes across the country for this very purpose. In South Australia, the board administers three small holiday homes in Goolwa, a small coastal town on the southern Fleurieu in my community of Mayo. Notwithstanding that the Goolwa properties are the only amenities in South Australia, the ADF members and their families and the board decided to commence a detailed scoping for the sale of the Goolwa properties in August this year.

Last month I met with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to discuss the possible sale of the Goolwa properties and the implications for veterans and their families in South Australia. I've been advised by the minister's office that the decision to review the viability of the Goolwa properties was based on the low Army user profile rate and low overall occupancy over the past 10 years. I really do find it very difficult to accept that there would be a low usage rate on those properties. Goolwa is a highly desirable place to holiday. I was further advised that the board is conscious of providing high-quality, economically priced holiday accommodation and has decided the proceeds from the potential sale of the Goolwa properties will be used to purchase properties in other areas more popular with personnel. But it's unclear whether this would be at another location in South Australia, let alone on the Fleurieu. South Australian veterans deserve holiday properties in South Australia. Mayo and the Fleurieu are incredibly popular holiday destinations and they are easier to get to. I would urge the government and the board to keep these properties. If you are determined to sell the properties, please replace them with properties nearby. It's unclear, as I said, whether we will have any of these homes left in South Australia. If that were to occur, it would be a great shame. I understand that the sale of the properties will require ministerial approval. I urge the minister to consider the views of the local community, the RSL clubs across the Fleurieu region and current and former ADF members across South Australia when making the decision. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context