Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When we consider Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2023-2024, we have looked closely at the defence portfolio—a portfolio that is no mean feat to cover within the space of a mere hour on the floor. I acknowledge the contributions made by my colleagues. I observed some of the remarks in this debate by the member for Herbert, and I would simply say that as a nation we are best served when both of the major parties of government can work together and have our nation's defence be bipartisan—for the sake of our strategic continuity as well as our reputation and our standing within our region, and with our friends and allies abroad. Hearing from both the Assistant Minister for Defence and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs really has demonstrated—as is so often the case—that we have a government with adults at the helm, one that is ready to make responsible choices to safeguard our national security, our national strategic interests, our sovereign capability to defend ourselves and preserve peace and order, and—I would argue the most important duty among that list—safeguarding those persons who have accepted the call to safeguard and those who have retired from that esteemed calling that one can undertake in their lifetime.

Defence as a portfolio—for any that have read through even a fraction of those budget papers—is an extremely large umbrella, one which acts as both shield and sword for Australia's strategic interests, its sovereign capabilities and the preservation of regional stability. Forming spokes on the umbrella of the Defence portfolio are, of course, the Department of Defence and the ADF. Adjacent to them we also have the Australian Signals Directorate, ASD, who act as our nation's sword and shield—as their name suggests—with our signals intelligence and our cybersecurity operations. A well-funded ASD is a testament to a government that is cognisant of the fact that modern problems require modern solutions.

Another spoke on the Defence portfolio umbrella is Defence Housing Australia—an important part indeed. It's one that operates to ensure the other spokes are turning smoothly and one that ensures our Defence Force personnel have roofs over their heads for themselves and their families while they perform their duties in the service of our great nation. In fact, the Albanese Labor government committed to enacting lasting and meaningful reforms to defence housing as part of our election commitments and over the last year in the 47th parliament. There are so many examples of the Albanese government doing just that: manifesting election commitments as legislation and having them pass through the parliament.

One can, albeit naively, look at defence housing as mere shelter for our ADF personnel, but it's much more than that. This government improving the defence housing framework by introducing the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Amendment Bill last year is the proof in the pudding of this being the case. The Albanese Labor government introduced this legislation in part as a measure to retain many of our highly trained and highly skilled ADF personnel by amending the scheme eligibility criteria, making it significantly more attractive to stay in our nation's service in the face of lucrative private-sector employment opportunities. The defence housing is there, and especially so after the reforms introduced by the government that aim to assist our veteran population.

That now brings us to the veterans affairs spoke of our Defence portfolio umbrella. I doubt a single member in this place would be shocked to know that protecting the interests and the wellbeing of our veteran population is something I'm extremely passionate about, not just because I'm a veteran myself but because I'm a member who represents over 6,000 veterans in my electorate of Spence, along with many of their families. These families can look towards a number of budget measures, some of which are moving forward from recommendations made in the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. In fact, $64.1 million is being put towards better resourcing the DVA not just to keep up with increased numbers of claims but also to clear the backlog of claims. This backlog causes many veterans anguish and rusts on an increasingly jaded outlook towards a government department that is tasked with assisting with the delivery of a number of services that assist veterans and their families. This commitment of funds goes hand in hand with the $254.1 million that is being committed across four years towards the modernisation of the ICT systems at the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Bringing claims further away from manual handling and processing can finally bring the backlog of claims down, just like what the minister for immigration has diligently achieved after years of administrative gutting by those opposite when in government. Very few portfolios are immune, but I'm delighted to continue to see our government make continued inroads to put things back on track.

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