Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. What was the state of veteran compensation claims when the Albanese Labor government took office, and what is the government doing to deliver on our nation's promise to veterans?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blair for his question. I know the member for Blair is doing an extraordinary job. I've attended veterans events at Ipswich with the member for Blair in the past.

Our government has invested record funding. DVA is the best resourced it's been in three decades. We started with 500 new frontline staff at the department in our very first budget—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for New England will cease interjecting.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and this month's budget includes an additional $477 million for our veterans, including an additional more than 140 staff to process claims even faster.

Thanks to our investments and the hard work of these staff, we're clearing the claims backlog. More claims being processed has a fiscal impact, and the impact of this is an extra $6½ billion in payments for veterans over the next five years. That's a cost to government but it's a cost which we owe those veterans; they've earned it by wearing our uniform, defending our nation and honouring us with their presence. This is long overdue money, and if you don't have staff and you're not processing claims then people aren't getting it. That was what was going on under the former government.

I'm asked about what we inherited. The fact is that, when we took office in May 2022, and when the minister undertook the role he was appointed to, we inherited a backlog of 42,000 compensation claims. That's 42,000 veterans who had defended our nation who were waiting on claims. Tragically, some of them never got to receive them. It's no wonder the former Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the member for Calare, threatened to resign as the minister before that last budget in 2022. He said this was 'having an appalling effect on the physical and mental health of our veterans'. He argued for funding in the former government, but, he said, 'They didn't feel there was a political advantage in funding veterans' issues.' So they did nothing.

We owe our veterans more than words and tributes. We owe them more than gratitude. We owe them what they have earned. This government is delivering on Australia's promise to them.