Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Palmer United Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Australia's Defence Force personnel cannot be paid enough. These people are putting their lives on the line to keep our country safe. Offering a pay increase of only 1.5 per cent per year is effectively a pay reduction as inflation is running at around three per cent. This means the pay of our Defence personnel—diggers, airmen and sailors—will not keep up with the cost of living, yet I understand that most senior officers of the Australian Defence Force received pay increases of up to 40 per cent over the last two years.