Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

but the last Minister for Defence in that government was the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister was a minister in the broader portfolio. It is a stain on them as well.

Since coming to government, from our very first budget we have increased the number of public servants in the Department of Veterans' Affairs by 1,000 so they can deal with this backlog and get entitlements flowing to our veterans, to the men and women who have served our nation—

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