Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. I refer the minister to the case of a Vietnam War veteran in my electorate who applied for a part-service pension and was told to present to the Toowoomba Department of Veterans’ Affairs office the following documentation: an application to determine qualifying service by a veteran, a claim for a service pension, a claim for a service pension part B income and assets, a private company questionnaire, his discharge certificate, his drivers licence, his wife’s drivers licence, his Medicare card, his birth certificate, his wife’s birth certificate, his passport, his wife’s passport, a copy of his superannuation statement and his original marriage certificate. After presenting the long list of documentation he was then told that because of the lack of resources in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs the processing of his application would take a minimum of three months. Why are the needs of our diggers not given top priority by this Labor government?

Opposition members interjecting

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