Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

I welcome this opportunity to take note of these documents, namely the Military Superannuation Benefits Board annual report 2009-10 and the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Authority annual report 2009-10. I particularly note on page 48 of the DFRDB Authority report that the average annual pension paid for the 2009-10 year is reported as $39,259. I have been informed that this is an error; the correct figure should be $23,549, an average increase of just under $1,500 since 2008-09.

At the last election there was only one party in this place committed to economically responsible reform of military superannuation, and that was the coalition. On 27 June this year, the coalition announced an important first step in military superannuation reform. The coalition announced that, if elected to government, from 1 July 2011 DFRDB superannuants aged 55 and over would have their DFRDB pensions indexed at the rate of CPI, MTAWE or PBLCI, whichever was the higher. Our commitment, worth $98 million, was fully funded and costed over the forward estimates. The coalition’s clear statement on military superannuation reform was widely welcomed in the veteran and ex-service community and was a central plank in our veterans’ affairs policy announced during the election campaign.

During the election campaign, the Labor Party did their level best to discredit the coalition’s mathematics. But, quite unsurprisingly, they completely failed. Labor, and particularly the former minister for veterans’ affairs, tried to besmirch the coalition’s commitment because the Labor Party refused to make one of their own. The Treasurer and the former minister claimed that the coalition had an $8 billion hole in our commitments. They used inaccurate actuarial modelling in an attempt to prove their claim. I say to the veteran and ex-service community that the coalition’s commitment to military superannuation reform is clear and is rock-solid. Our commitment was absolutely affordable, paid for through identified savings measures. We are committed to reform of the DFRDB superannuation scheme; Labor is not.

We acknowledge that the unique nature of military service requires the parliament to legislate quite separately for the needs of military personnel past and present. It is for these reasons that, earlier this year, we opposed the merging of civilian and military superannuation management under one authority. Losing the independence of military superannuation boards would only make it harder to ensure our retired defence personnel received fair and just indexation of their pensions.

The coalition remains committed to military superannuation reform. We call on the Gillard Labor government and the new minister in the other place to bring about some real action on reform. Our veterans and their families deserve nothing less than fairness in their retirement.

Just before closing, I also note the statement by the Director of the Australian War Memorial in Senate estimates last week that the memorial’s council considered, but ultimately did not action, the closing of the memorial one day a week as a result of Labor’s reckless spending and funding cuts. I further note that the memorial’s annual Christmas carol event has been cancelled this year, as, similarly, much other work at the memorial has been scaled back or cancelled as a result of this government’s reckless spending. Regrettably, in this I also include the World War I gallery, which was to be refurbished.

The revelation that the memorial even had to consider closing for a day a week is simply remarkable and shows a lack of respect by this Gillard Labor government for veterans, ex-service people, and the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. I find it impossible to understand how, after wasting billions on the BER and pink batts, this Gillard Labor government is making the Australian War Memorial—the memorial to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice—pay the price for their reckless spending. I call on the minister and indeed the local Labor representatives from the Australian Capital Territory to lobby for increased funding for the memorial to ensure it remains Australia’s pre-eminent place of commemoration and reflection of the horrors of war. The Australian community can and should expect no less. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.