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

and, as of today, that backlog is entirely clear. Lest there be any confusion that this is a story about history, let's be completely clear: this is a story about right now. Thirteen days ago, when the Leader of the Opposition delivered his budget reply, the closest he came to a policy announcement was a commitment to cut public servants—a commitment which was backed in by the shadow minister the very next day—the same public servants who are seeing entitlements flow to our veterans. For those opposites, nothing has changed. They just see defence as a political opportunity. This government understands that at the heart of defence are the men and women who have served and who continue to serve us all by wearing our nation's uniform to keep Australians safe.

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