Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government is on its sixth veterans affairs minister in eight years. The new minister presides over a department that is dysfunctional and has delays in terms of processing claims, and we know that there are backlogs with respect to waiting times as well as compensation. But tonight veterans can give the new minister a hand.

The government struggled to identify how many veterans live in Australia and where they live. So I'm asking veterans to answer a question tonight. Tonight, for the first time in the census, there will be a question on Australian Defence Force service. Veterans can once again do their civic duty and give the government a helping hand by nudging it on the way to providing better support for veterans. This new 2021 census question will help to identify how many veterans there are and where they are and allow the right services to be delivered where they're needed, both nationally and locally.

Labor and the states and territories and ex-service organisations have long championed this. We are pleased that the government has put this question in the census. I encourage all defence personnel and veterans to answer the question 'Have you served in the ADF?' I ask you to answer that question tonight, and give the government a helping hand, so we can get better support for veterans across the country as well as in each and every electorate. It's crucial we do this, and I ask veterans to do this tonight to benefit our nation.