Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday the President of the New South Wales RSL, Don Rowe, said he was absolutely disgusted with the government's mean-spirited decision that came as news to him. He said:

I think it’s a mean penny-pinching exercise. It is a help to the families and the families need it.

Prime Minister, how can the government defend this callous and unprincipled decision to harm and take away from the children of our veterans, particularly the orphans?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to stress to the Leader of the Opposition that the Veterans' Children Education Scheme stays. The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme stays. What is not staying is the income support bonus. The income support bonus went to hundreds of thousands of people; it was not something that only went to the children of veterans. It goes to hundreds of thousands of people. We were very up-front before the election that the income support bonus would go. We said this before the election. We are doing it after the election. People expect us to keep our commitments. We were prepared before the election to be up-front about tough decisions—something that gentleman has never been prepared to be.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, is the Prime Minister really saying he cannot find $¼ million for 1,200 orphans?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not a point of order. I say to the honourable Leader of the Opposition that that is an abuse of the standing orders and will not be tolerated.