Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) | Hansard source

In my electorate of Cowper, we have the largest cohort of veterans in New South Wales. There are 9,000 veterans and their families in my electorate, and I talk to them regularly. We need to acknowledge the service that they have given to our country and the freedoms that we enjoy today. We acknowledge that by going to services for Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and Vietnam Veterans' Day. We say, 'Lest we forget,' and we say, 'Thank you for your service.' But now our veterans are being thanked for their service by this government capping allied health services at $5,000 a year.

Not all veterans are broken when they come back from service, but many of them are, and many of them are ageing. I've had a waterfall of emails, phone calls and visits at my mobile offices from these veterans who are terrified that they are not going to be able to access their allied health services, physiotherapy, physiology, psychology—one of the most important things you would think this government would recognise for our veterans. This is not the way we should be treating our veterans. I urge the minister and I urge the government to reverse the decision, to scrap it, to remove the cap on allied services.

Speaking of people who have contributed to this country over the years, I note the government's decision to now reduce the private health rebate for people over 65. This is no way to thank our Australian citizens who have borne the burden and borne the costs of private health care for the entirety of their lives. They are now being told by the Australian government: 'Well, you're over 65. Thanks very much for not clogging the public health system for the past 40 years, but we're going to reduce the rebate, and it's going to cost you, as a couple, up to $1,600 a year more in a cost-of-living crisis.' I had a mobile office last week and again I received a waterfall, a deluge, of emails and phone calls. I received a visit from Mr and Mrs Spagnolo at my mobile office. They said that when this comes in, they're going to go down and cancel their health insurance and put more pressure on the system. You need to change this decision as well.

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