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

Today, a wrong has been righted. Today, in the House of Representatives, legislation was introduced to address the DFRDB indexation issue. It was an unfair situation that had been there for decades for people who have served this nation. We took to the last election a commitment to address this unfair indexation issue. Today, that promise was delivered. Today, we again recognise the uniqueness of military service. Today, we acknowledge those 57,000 families throughout this nation who have not had the same indexation methods as service and age pensioners. Today, we start assisting those in Senator Boswell's home state.

There are 15,000 people in Queensland who will be helped by this decision today through the introduction of this legislation. In the seat of Longman alone, there are 894 families who will benefit from this change. I will just also say this to Senator Boswell: there are 45,000 military superannuants who will benefit immediately from this decision. That is those who are aged over 55. That payment will commence on 1 July this year. This is a commitment made by a government that keeps its promises. This is a commitment that those opposite have tried on two occasions to stop. They have tried to stop people who have served this country from getting fair indexation. (Time expired)