Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's not often in this chamber that you have a National Party member endorse virtually everything a Greens member says, but I was ticking off my talking points through Senator Shoebridge's speech and shortening my speech on this Veteran's Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill 2022.

As Senator Shoebridge said, there are roughly 27,000 Australians on the TPI, and they have given their all. They have given their health as well as giving their service. They have always deserved better and they will always deserve better. The reasons for not moving that amendment are understandable. We saw a previous vote in this place—on seniors being able to double their allowance for work without penalty—it got referred to the other place, came back and, to pass it, it had to be walked back on. So it's a good thing that this gets through now; it gives them something. But it is not enough. We saw under the last government a National Party minister effectively having to grandstand for $94 million to try to help veterans' processing. One thing this government has done is to resource this quite well, to try to reduce the backlog. Senator Shoebridge and I were talking with DVA—with Liz Cosson AM, the secretary of that department—about the process. We were talking about backlogs and all those sort of things, and about reducing to zero the overdue dates—there are massive, massive claims by veterans going back. We have to do more.

Why have these people not gotten what they deserve? It's because they're the quiet people. They served this country with pride, they're used to a chain of command and they don't want to be upset at what's going on so they effectively suffer in silence. It's a good thing this money is here. I note that the Tune report, which was referred to by Senator Shoebridge, put four options forward. Option 1 was no change to the TPI level and classification—it's great that wasn't taken up; that's gone. Option 2 was a one-off increase in the TPI payment, while maintaining non-economic-loss status. And there were other, bigger options.

I'm small fry on our side—I'm not in government—but I heartily endorse Senator Shoebridge's contribution. When we come back, let's look at what we can give these people to go on. As Senator Davey said in her speech, every two weeks a veteran commits suicide. This is a cohort of people who worked together as a team, and they still have a great sense of loyalty to each other. They trusted their lives in other people's hands. Through their entire career, we picked them up and moved them on postings, and they did this without concern. They lost family, they lost their contacts and they lost friends—and they lost everything if they lost their health and qualified for a TPI pension. If we aren't giving them the basics to survive then we need to look at ourselves as a country.

What happens when a person gets to the end? I have a constituent who has been contacting me over some time, and their situation is not a fault of the minister or the previous minister—it's because of the process. They are now at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on a claim that was initially approved and then taken back. When you talk to the people at DVA you see that they care, that they get it and that they want to do the right thing. This person has medical bills and they have had to hire someone at $100,000 a year to perform their role in their business. They are paying not only to get their health fixed but also for someone to do the job they could do.

We look at this $2.75, which is what I think you calculated. Why is it important to the Nats so much? Because the military is overrepresented by people who come from the regions, just like it was in the call-up for the wars. People from the regions are overrepresented in the military. They are willing and happy to do their work. The analysis of the Tune report showed that TPI veterans within the broader TPI veteran cohort may have less financial security because of their individual circumstances, and that other changes to the TPI payment would be beneficial.

We need to look after these people who have finished their career, have bad health and, honestly, have no future career prospects. They have sacrificed so much and are left with very little. We need to give them hope, if nothing else. This $2.75, or $1,000, is something. I thank the government. We will be supporting this going forward.

In everything we do let's always think of these people. We celebrate so many people in this country, but not this cohort of people who get on, do the right thing, stay quiet and don't protest. We don't get clicktivism or noise from them. They're not out the front of Parliament House, but they are there and they are deserving of this. I wholly support this bill.