Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Minister for Veterans' Affairs, thank you for coming to Wagga Wagga last November to announce money for RSL LifeCare and for Pro Patria; I appreciate that. But, after two years in office, the budget confirms that Labor has no plans to extend the veterans hubs, with the budget papers showing that all the money for the program will dry up in two years. Just $11.6 million will be committed to veterans hubs in 2024-25, compared to $34.1 million last year and reducing to zero in 2026-27. Australians—our veterans—deserve better.

This was the third budget where veterans will pay a price for losing their voice in cabinet under Labor. Now, I am standing in for the shadow minister for veterans' affairs; the shadow minister is here, but he's unwell. But, as Deputy Prime Minister, I had put the veterans portfolio into cabinet by June 2019. When Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister, the first decision was to dump the Minister for Veterans' Affairs from cabinet. This budget confirms the ramifications of that decision. Your portfolio, Minister, should be in cabinet. Veterans should have a voice around the big table.

The budget confirms Labor will miss the 2025 deadline set by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to reform, streamline and harmonise veterans entitlements. No budget provision has been made for a new scheme to come into effect by 1 July 2025, as stipulated by the interim report of the royal commission. The royal commission is set to hand down its final report on 9 September. However, in August 2022, the commission handed down an interim report so the government could urgently address critical recommendations. We feel that this is not happening fast enough. And it may well be because of the fact that Veterans' Affairs is not in cabinet.

A question for the minister: Budget Paper No. 1 says: 'The Government will provide $222.0 million to harmonise veterans' compensation and rehabilitation legislation'—it's on page 31. I would like the minister to provide details on what makes up that cost for each of the forward-year estimates. What changes have been costed that specifically equate to $222 million? Could you please answer that.

On staffing: overall total DVA resourcing will be cut by about $19 million from $797 million in 2023-24 to $778 million this coming year. While the minister issued a press release claiming Labor is investing $186 million to employ an additional 141 staff to ensure there is no veterans claims backlog, there is no evidence—none—in the budget papersto support this. Page 16 of the PBS Budget Related Paper No. 1.4B for DVA shows, in fact, the opposite. It shows that staffing numbers will actually drop in DVA during 2024-25. Of the net 36,000 growth in public servants that Labor is budgeting for, we now know that none of that net growth will be for our veterans. A question for you, Minister: can you identify where the 141 apparent extra staff appear in the budget papers and over what period of time, given page 16 of that paper shows that the department will experience a decrease of 78 ASL staff in 2024-25 compared to this year. And, Minister, what sections are those ASL staff being cut from? I appreciate that you are staying—that's good—because you can hear the rest of it.

The claims backlog peaked in August 2022, under Labor, with 45,226 claims—over 3,000 more than at the change of government, unlike the previous speaker's account. Those are the facts. Since then, the 2024-25 budget papers refer to having cleared the backlog of unallocated compensation claims in DVA. It's important to understand that the government's definition of clearing a claim does not mean it is being assessed, finalised and paid. It is simply not good enough.

I want to go to a couple of other quick things in the time left. Labor has also put the veteran chaplaincy program on life support, with just over $1 million for a one-year extension as it is being reviewed. This is an important program, and I would urge you to reconsider that, perhaps when the Prime Minister puts you in the cabinet. Unmarked war graves—Labor has no plans to reinstate the $2.9 million it stripped from the World War I unmarked war grave program. Ahead of the election, Labor promised $3.7 million to match the coalition's commitment to the program. That pledge has been cut to $800,000, spread over four years. It is simply not good enough. This is from a government that in its first year of office made the Anzac Day public holiday optional and exchangeable for Commonwealth public servants. Shame on you for that.

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