Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the last federal election, in November 2007, federal Labor and the then opposition leader, Mr Rudd, gave a very strong commitment to veterans: if he were elected, his government would be very supportive and would do all that they could in their power to improve the superannuation conditions for veterans. I would like to draw to the parliament’s attention, and for the benefit of the constituents of Ryan, that, now that federal Labor has indeed become the Australian government and Mr Rudd has become the Prime Minister of our wonderful country, there is a big gap between the pre-election commitment and government policy implementation. This is what the Prime Minister said when he was opposition leader:

Military superannuation is also a vital component of our ability to attract and retain talented ADF personnel.

A Rudd Labor Government will maintain a generous military superannuation system, in recognition of the importance of the ADF and the immense responsibility placed on personnel in securing and defending Australia.

That was Mr Rudd in the role of opposition leader. Of course, today he is the Prime Minister of our great country. As far as the constituents of Ryan are concerned—indeed, I have received many emails from many throughout Brisbane—this is a glaring commitment that has not seen the light of day in reality.

A colleague of his in the government and a member of the executive, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support, said pre-2007 that his top priority was to change the method of indexation used to calculate Commonwealth pensions. This was his ‘top priority’ because, if they remained indexed to the CPI, those retiring on a Commonwealth pension of $20,000 would be $7,000 worse off in 20 years time. He said it was only fair that that were changed. Again, now that they are in office, this has not come to pass.

I want to quote one constituent, Mr Frank Maloney, who is very strongly and very eloquently representing the frustrations in the veteran community in relation to veterans superannuation. He says:

All we ask for is to be treated fairly and in like manner to the rest of the Australian community.

So I just want to put on the record for Mr Maloney and for the many others in his situation that, as the member for Ryan, I intend to bat for him and to make it clear also to my leader and my party that this is something that must be rectified. It was a failure of the Howard government to not address it and the government must address it now. (Time expired)