Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all current and past service personnel for their service to our nation, and there is absolutely no question that all of us in this place and in the nation owe them a huge debt of gratitude. I too rise today to speak on this bill and I do remind the Senate of my objections to yet another well-intentioned bill on service related issues, but again it is very poorly conceived and uncosted. Like Senator Lambie's bill to increase defence pay, while it had a very catchy title, the devil is always in the detail, and in the case of the last bill the detail was that it actually set back all pay and conditions of defence service personnel.

Australians are rightly proud of the service of our ADF members and I could not have been prouder of having been a member of the Australian Army. Despite the threat that Senator Lambie just made to me, personally, in this chamber, nobody is a more a passionate advocate for the veterans and for our current serving ADF members than I. Again, I commend Senator Lambie for her ongoing commitment to defence personnel, but to suggest in this place that anybody has a mortgage on compassion and a mortgage on what is right for a very complex policy area, I think, is insulting and is, quite frankly, wrong. We might have differences of policy, in terms of how to deal with these issues, and we might also have very different approaches on how to seek change and get better outcomes for our veterans, but to suggest that I or any other serving personnel in this chamber does not care, and to be subject from a threat by Senator Lambie, is absolutely wrong, and it is insulting.

Let's have a look at the details. This bill suggests that the current government and, indeed, all past governments from both sides do not care about the veteran community. As I said, that is absolutely wrong. This bill proposes automatically issuing a DVA healthcare, all-conditions gold card to current and ex members of the Australian Defence Force who have rendered service in war or warlike operations and also all members of peacekeeping forces, including Australian Federal Police members. Again, like the bill on higher pay for ADF which actually reduced pay, the devil is in the detail, or lack of detail, of this bill.

Senator Lambie's bill also includes provisions to extend gold card benefits retrospectively for treatment provided since 1 August 1947 for any injury or disease experienced by any eligible person who is alive at the commencement of this bill. Further, the bill proposes to issue a gold card solely on the basis of current or ex members having the necessary service, regardless of whether the recipient has a condition or injury caused by war or sustained during war or warlike operations. Again, this sounds reasonable. But, again, it is a very populist approach. For reasons I will go through, it is counterproductive. It is uncosted. It could actually backfire horribly.

It is clear that this is a well-intentioned policy. It is certainly a very populist one. But, to be frank, I am certain Senator Lambie has not thought for a second how much it would cost, especially on a day like today—

Senator Lambie interjecting—

Senator Lambie, you were heard in silence.