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

I thank the member very much for his question. Of course, this week is Veterans' Health Week. There are more than 720 events planned right around Australia, and those events have already kicked off. I'm delighted that this year's Veterans' Health Week is the biggest yet, with ex-service organisations and community groups coming together to host those 720 events between Saturday and the end of November. It's more than just a week.

This year's Veterans' Health Week offers plenty of activities, including group walks and runs, water sports, seminars and workshops, dance classes and even a scavenger hunt. As part of the event calendar, veterans charity Swiss 8 has also been supported to host barbecues across the nation, during Veterans' Health Week and in the lead up to Remembrance Day, to help raise the awareness of the importance of mental health.

I would encourage everyone out there, veterans and their families, to get involved in Veterans' Health Week, and I want to thank all of those ex-service organisations and community groups for showing their support and putting on a raft of fantastic COVID-safe events and activities for veterans and their families to participant in. Among the planned virtual events is the Bravery Trek challenge 2021, run by the Bravery Trust, which challenges veterans and families to walk, run, or cycle 100 kilometres to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force. A full list of Veterans' Health Week events and information about how to register are available on the DVA website. You can go to dva.gov.au/vhw, call DVA on 1800 VETERAN—that's 1800 838 372—or you can email vhw@dva.gov.au.

The veterans of Australia deserve the very best support and welfare that—

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

I'll take the interjection. That's why—

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

Working for veterans is an important piece of national work—whether it's through Veterans' Health Week, whether it's supporting our veterans through counselling services or whether it's speeding up the claims processing system, which is a project I'm very passionate about and am working on at the moment. This parliament exists to make life better for the people we represent. We are going to make sure that, under the watch of this government, life is made better for our veterans and that they get all of the support and the care that they need and they deserve.