Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will be supporting the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Exempting Disability Payments from Income Testing and Other Measures) Bill 2021 as it will improve and streamline assistance to veterans and improve their wellbeing. However, we know it's not what most totally and permanently incapacitated veterans want. We know that most want an increase in the TPI payment.

Labor condemns the Morrison-Joyce government for its failure to accept the recommendation of the recent Senate inquiry that the TPI payment be increased. This would ensure that our most disabled veterans are not left behind. The government's response to this bipartisan inquiry was a huge slap in the face for Australia's 27,000 TPI veterans, and it goes to show that this is a government that's all about the announcement but never about delivery when it comes to Australia's veterans.

The Australian Federation of Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Ex-Servicemen and Women has been raising the issue of the TPI payment for several years, but the government has completely ignored their concerns. Before the 2019 election the Prime Minister effectively promised to increase the payment, but since then he has ignored the pleas of TPI veterans, and his own colleagues' advice, and failed to raise the pension. After sitting on a review of the TPI payment for more than a year Scott Morrison announced in last year's budget that he would only provide rent assistance to a small proportion of TPI veterans, leaving most disgusted that they would miss out. In response to Labor's questions in Senate estimates last year, it was revealed that these benefits would not start to flow until September 2022 when they make changes to legislation and IT systems. It's good they've brought this forward to January 2022, following pressure from Labor and TPI veterans, but they're cutting it fine to have them pass.

So Labor will not stand in the way of this legislation but, along with many TPI veterans, we believe these tokenistic measures are just not good enough and that our veterans and families deserve much better.