Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) | Hansard source

The responsibility for clearing that unacceptably high backlog of claims rests with me. It's my job to clear it up. I have to clear it up for veterans, I have to clear it up for ADF personnel and I have to clear it up for their families. That is my responsibility, and it's a responsibility that I take very seriously. That's why I wanted the $96 million to back the action plan, to do something about it and to give me the tools and the funding that I need to get that job done. I don't apologise for it today. I'm not going to apologise for what I said. I stand by everything I said, and I stand by everything I did.

As far as the funding goes, there is $22.8 million as a line item in the budget, and the balance of just over $73 million is in a contingency reserve, which is also part of the budget. So the funding is there. It's my job to represent veterans, and I'm satisfied that the funding is there—I've seen the paperwork—and the $96 million is going to make a difference to clearing up that backlog of claims. I stand by everything I said and everything I did, and I would do it all again tomorrow for the veterans.

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