Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to draw the parliament's attention to the Morrison government's savage funding cuts to the Newcastle and Hunter Region Vietnam Veterans, one of the lead organisations looking after the health and wellbeing of ex-service men and women in my community. In previous years, they have been awarded close to $20,000 through the Building Excellence in Support and Training grants to help deliver ongoing support to our veterans. This year, with no explanation and no apology, their grant was slashed by two-thirds to just over $6,000. Like most community organisations, Newcastle and Hunter Region Vietnam Veterans delivers vital services on a shoestring budget, but this cruel cut has plunged them into financial dire straits, where they'll have to make some very difficult decisions. Veterans are doing it tough at the moment, and veterans' organisations are more important than ever, with record demand for their support and services. These are the men and women who have served their nation, and this is an appalling way to repay them. I've been in touch with the minister's office to ask for an explanation for this savage cut in funding. It's not right, it's not fair and the minister needs to explain what happened and how he intends to fix it, because Newcastle veterans deserve better.

There's another matter I wish to raise. Newcastle has recently been hit by the largest reduction in postal services in history, with letter deliveries going from five days a week to once in every two business days. This week, one of my constituents told me his shocking experience of waiting 13 days for a letter to get from the John Hunter Hospital to his home at Lambton, which is less than a 10-minute drive—and this was before the cuts to postal services had kicked in. In taking up this issue with the government, I need to know if this problem is widespread. That is where my community comes in. I'm calling on Novocastrians to tell me about their experience. Have you had a letter that has taken forever to arrive? How long are your letters taking to get to their destinations? Have you had any other problems with the post that you want to share? If you email me, post me, phone me, leave a message on my Facebook page, I'll tell your stories to the Prime Minister and demand an explanation. The government and Australia Post have shamefully used the cover of the pandemic and some dodgy figures to slash postal time frames, and regional communities like ours are paying the price. I'm asking the people of Newcastle to help me say that enough is enough and hold the Morrison government to account for these brazen attacks on our important public services.