Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take the interjection. They include the introduction of a new additional disablement amount. They include the introduction of presumptive liability. For those who don't understand what presumptive liability means, it means that the Commonwealth assumes responsibility. If you are a veteran and you have been injured, you don't have to prove that that was because of the service that you had. It consolidates household and attendant care. It has an increase of $3,000 for the funeral allowance and the availability of reimbursements of funeral expenses up to $14,000 for all service related deaths.

I do want that to be widely known. Too often veterans will pass away and not only did they not tell enough of their stories and their service to their family but they didn't tell their families that this benefit was available. So I think it's important that families of veterans know that. There will be a higher reimbursement amount for travel when a private vehicle is used to travel for treatment. We heard many stories of veterans being out of pocket just to drive to the place where they needed care. There will be the standardisation of allowances and other payments and the introduction of an instrument enabling the Repatriation Commission to determine circumstances where a veteran must receive financial advice before receiving a lump sum payment. And that is important. Not every veteran is in a position where the influx of a payment will necessarily make their life better without advice. That is an important change.

I spoke at the start about an MCG full of Australians who died serving this nation. We have six MCGs full of veterans in this country who are alive now and deserve and need our care. This bill will go a long way to making that process simpler and fairer and to giving people the comfort to know that this next phase of their life will be a little easier and, more than that, that a nation recognises the sacrifice that they have made and supports them in every way that they need.

I just came from a meeting with a group. There are many groups that support veterans, but this one focuses particularly on families. Veterans care for their families probably as much as they do for their country, and it is important that we also care for veterans' families. Often they fall through the gap, and they're left to pick up the pieces. I think that, as a veteran myself, there would be no greater gift to know that, whenever I'm no longer on this earth, someone else is caring for the people that I left behind—because that's what makes you get up every day and that's what makes you think of a better tomorrow for our country. I commend the government. This is above politics, because, to anyone who puts on the uniform, you are a patriot no matter which side of the chamber you sit on.

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