Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Some assistance may be able to provided about the second part of that question. Can I first of all say, Senator Scullion, that no veteran will be worse off. That is very important. We are talking about the partner service pension. This does not affect the veteran payments. This is simply about the partner or, to be frank, the ex-partner of those veterans. It is important that we make it very, very clear that no veteran will be worse off under this measure. The reality is that partners who move from the partner service pension to other payments by and large will get a very similar payment, if not exactly the same payment.

In terms of any socioeconomic modelling, I do not know that that is something that we should even contemplate, because if people are moving from the partner service pension to another payment they will be getting the same payment, particularly those people who have been grandfathered—for want of a better word—who are over the age of 63½. They are staying on the partner service pension but, if they were going to move, they would be on the age pension. It is essentially the same payment, but I absolutely underline that no veteran will have their payments or entitlements changed in any way at all.