Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government is scrapping the 100 per cent pre-injury salary for veterans undertaking approved study from 1 July 2023;

(2) further notes that the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, which mirrors the Coalition's Maintaining Incapacity Payments for Veterans Studying Bill, was passed with bipartisan support in September 2022;

(3) recognises that at no stage did the Government flag the scheme was under review or to be cut, and on the contrary, the Minister for Veterans Affairs championed the scheme;

(4) calls on the Government to recommit to the bi-partisan support of our veterans and their families as they transition from the Australian Defence Force;

(5) calls on the Government to introduce a 'Diggers Bill'—similar to the United States G.I. Bill, also known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act 1944 (United States); and

(6) acknowledges that it is our essential duty in this place to honour those who have given so much to protect Australia's interests at home and abroad.

As the deputy chair of the parliament's defence subcommittee and previously its chair, I've been privileged to spend a great deal time with members of the ADF and veterans. Men and who serve our nation in uniform are owed a great debt for their sacrifice, their service and their love of country. That is why I have been so passionate about veterans' wellbeing since my election in 2016. I want to acknowledge the member for Herbert and all members in this House who have served this country in uniform. Unlike Labor, we elevated the veterans portfolio to cabinet. Unlike Labor, we delivered the veterans covenant with support of veterans in the LNP. Unlike Labor, we invested $11.5 billion in a plan to back our nation's 340,000 veterans and their family members.

In 2018, the former coalition government introduced a program to maintain incapacity payments for veterans who were undertaking approved study. The same coalition government then further provided a 100 per cent subsidy complementing existing incapacity payments. Last year, we passed a further bill on incapacity payments for veterans' rehabilitation and compensation. This bipartisan support was a sign that the government would carry on the successful programs of the coalition government. It turns out that that was just wishful thinking. Now eight months later, not only is 100 per cent subsidy gone, but the entire program comes to an end. It is over from 1 July this year. We had no consultation, no rationale and no warning. Veterans partway through their approved courses will now be out of pocket. It's very appropriate that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs is in the chamber here listening. I hope he's listening. I call on the government and I call on the minister to restore those payments.

I also think that there is an enormous opportunity that we are missing in this country in relation to fostering veterans' wellbeing and long-term success. I want to acknowledge the member for Braddon, who has walked into the chamber as well, and his service in this country. If there are any other veterans on either side of the House that are anywhere near the chamber, come on in; you're more than welcome! Approximately one in 10 Australians will experience PTSD in their lifetime. Veterans are among those most significantly at risk, particularly in the transition to civilian life. In transition, there is often a sense of purposelessness, a loss of community and a change in the structure, expectations and routine which scaffold a life in the military. We know that education can play a transformative role in a person's life, contributing to their personal and financial recovery and growth. We know that this is what many ADF members and veterans want. In the interim report of the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide, one serving member stated that there needs to be a 'tertiary education or proper employment program' and said:

Meaningful employment and genuine gratitude for veterans is i believe the key to solving the veteran suicide issue in this country.

As I've repeated time and again in this place and outside it, it is high time for Australia to introduce a scheme like the United States GI Bill to back veterans in their transition into civilian life. A Commonwealth assisted tertiary education for veterans scheme, what I would call the 'digger bill', would provide free tuition to eligible participants, recognising their unique training and practical experience and honouring their service. If we do this properly by engaging industry, academia, defence and the community sector, this reform stands to revolutionise the way we support, equip and honour our veterans and their families. I want to send a big shout out to Harry Moffitt, whom I've been working with on this digger bill for over 18 months. He's a great fella doing terrific work for veterans in this space. Well done, Harry.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion by the member for Fisher pretends the government is scrapping a program that his government had intended to continue. It was a pilot program. It has been assessed, the evidence is in and the government has decided to progress more productive ways to assist veterans. In any event, the coalition did not provide for the pilot program to continue into 2022-23, and it is the Albanese government that has provided for it to continue until now. On what basis does the coalition now say they intended this or other programs across various departments to continue if they didn't provide for them in the forward estimates and they didn't bother legislating them? The motion is therefore poorly grounded and is misleading.

The motion does, however, allow me to remind the House and the veterans of Australia of the ways in which this government, since coming to office just 12 months ago, has continued to honour those who have given so much to protect Australia's interests at home and abroad. In truth, I have never seen a more active Minister for Veterans' Affairs. I take any opportunity to relay to the RSLs in my electorate of Hasluck, being the sub-branches at Bassendean, Bellevue, Chidlow, Ellenbrook, Kalamunda and Mundaring, just how much the government has been doing for our veterans. There's already a great deal for veterans and their families to like and a great deal left to the coalition to explain as to why the veterans claims system was allowed to be run down and cause delay, heartache and ongoing frustration to the thousands of our men and women who have done their service and who reasonably expect to be served well by the government and not poorly.

This government, this minister, has hit the ground running in this portfolio. On 24 June last year, hardly a month into the job, the minister quite rightly made public the report into the Department of Veterans' Affairs claims processing system and pledged to take action to fix the backlog. He said at the time, and I agree, that it simply is not good enough.

In July, the government committed an additional $70.6 million in funding over four years to increase Veterans Home Care fees for domestic assistance and personal care services and also took legislative action to ensure that no veteran would pay higher income tax due to the Douglas decision in the Federal Court. In August, the government committed $22 million in funding to provide psychiatric assistance dogs to veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder and $33 million to extend access for free medical treatment for veterans. Back in October last year, the government invested $537.5 million in the Department of Veterans' Affairs, including 500 new frontline staff to address the compensation claims backlog and deliver faster decisions for veterans and families; the modernisation of the IT system of the department to improve the claims-processing services; addressing longstanding complexity in the legislative claims regime; providing for better modelling for better future services; 10 more veterans and families hubs; a new Veterans Employment Program; and an increase in the total and permanent incapacitated payments, supporting 27,000 of our most vulnerable. Additionally, in the May budget, the government invested $64.1 million to further eliminate the claims backlog left to this Labor government by the coalition; a further $254.1 million over four years, building on the October budget, to modernise and secure the department's IT systems; half a million dollars, with ongoing funding, to extend the Defence, Veterans and Families Acute Support Package to grandparents who are full-time carers for grandchildren who are children of veterans; and $2 million to continue the mental health literacy and suicide intervention training program.

These measures are, in different ways, part of the government's response to the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and that work continues. In the last parliament, the member for Burt, as spokesperson, stated plainly:

We have a duty of care for those who have served. This is especially so where that service has had a greater impact on them and their families now and into the future.

Now the minister and the government are walking the walk. I thank the member for Fisher for the chance to outline the significant contrast between the Albanese government's keen interest in and tangible support for our veteran community and the lazy and insufficient care taken by the previous government.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We must do everything we can to support our veterans, which is why I second this motion this morning. This motion calls on the government to undo its reckless decision to cut incap payments for veterans who are studying. When the original bill to extend the scheme came before the House last year, we gave Labor our support. This scheme should be bipartisan. But now the Albanese Labor government has quietly axed it. This was a program that provided 100 per cent of a veteran's pre-injury earnings for them to undertake full-time study as a part of their DVA approved rehabilitation plan. Without the bipartisan extension of the 100 per cent incap payments, they would be phased out. Providing a financial support during study takes away a significant barrier which might otherwise discourage a veteran from study and building a life after service.

There is nothing more important when transitioning out of the military than meaningful engagement and/or meaningful employment, and I'm living proof of this. After my deployment in Afghanistan, I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, with being deaf in one ear from an IUD blast and with post-traumatic stress disorder. With many months off work, being disengaged from both Army and civilian life, things got pretty tough. Eventually, with significant support from my family and friends, I picked myself up and signed up to a number of educational programs. Over time, the meaning of life returned. I had purpose, responsibility and accountability. Being meaningfully engaged led to employment and the path to my new normal. If I hadn't begun my education, I could have been in a very different place.

You don't need to look too far into many studies that show defence and veteran suicide rates to realise that one of the root causes is a lack of meaning and purpose. Gaining meaning and purpose doesn't always take the form of study, and that's fine—we're all very different—but it is definitely one way we can try and make a difference in the lives of those veterans who feel called to further education and a new chapter in their life.

Townsville is the largest garrison city in the nation, so you can imagine how many of my constituents will be significantly impacted by this cut. A number of veterans have contacted me specifically about this issue, mentioning their incredible sense of pride, achievement and self-betterment through study. One of them is John Lay. He wrote to me explaining that without the incap payment he will not be able to complete the final year of his four-year degree, missing out on the potential job opportunities it would have created for him. In an open letter regarding the end of the program, Veteran Advocacy Australia said:

Veterans have made life changing and financial decisions based on their enrolment in this program. And it would be terrible to see Veterans now withdraw from study, some close to completion, as they can no longer afford to participate.

The government has not released any data to justify this decision, but these testimonies are evidence of the program's success.

I'd also like to point out that I have written to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs on this very matter, on behalf of my constituents and veterans nationally. That was at the start of the year, and I still haven't received a response. What's changed? Our veteran community's need for this scheme certainly hasn't, which means we can only assume that this is a cost-cutting decision that is going to impact our veteran community—those who put their lives on the line for the safety of our country. I'd like to remind the Labor government that the bill to extend the scheme was passed with bipartisan support. Our veteran community is already in a state of crisis, and, by axing this program that alleviated financial stress, fuel is only being added to the fire.

The extension of the 100 per cent in-cap payment would provide our veterans with short-term financial aid for long-term and potentially life-saving gain. I implore the government to reconsider the axing of this program, and I commend this motion to the House. In doing so I'd like to acknowledge the member for Braddon, a veteran, who is here today; the member for Fisher, for bringing on this motion; and, of course, the previous minister for veterans' affairs, the member for Gippsland. In this place, on both sides, veterans affairs should be bipartisan. We haven't seen that of late, and I call on the government to return to that position.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't doubt for a moment the member for Fisher's sincere interest in veterans in moving this motion, but the motion is disingenuous. As the member for Hasluck has, quite rightly, pointed out, we are dealing with and talking about a pilot program which would have ended on 30 June 2022 under the previous coalition government and was extended for a further 12 months until the end of June 2023. With all pilot programs it's very likely that they will come to an end, and the minister, quite rightly, has committed a whole range of resources to continue support for veterans across this country.

We have about half a million veterans throughout Australia. When you add their spouses, partners, siblings and other close family members, there are literally millions of people that may be impacted by the lives of those veterans. The reality is that too many veterans struggle through life. They struggle to adjust to civilian life once their service ends. We know that throughout the veteran community there are high rates of family breakdown, high rates of suicide, high rates of divorce, high rates of PTSD, high rates of homelessness and perhaps high rates of alcohol and other drug use.

There is considerable evidence that military service does change people's lives. It's a unique type of service and, quite often, those who engage in wartime activities experience horrific scenes. For many veterans, it's only their mates who served along with them who truly understand their struggles. When enlistment ends, many of them then have to deal with the bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, which more often than not simply adds to their frustration, leaving them disillusioned and feeling abandoned. They expect more from their governments than civic leaders turning up at commemorative events and military services, and there applauding their bravery and patriotism. All too often they are left to turn to local veterans support groups for the support they need. In my own region, it is volunteer groups like the Vietnam Veterans Association Northern Suburbs Sub-branch, the Para District Branch of the National Servicemen's Association, the RSL clubs, the Peter Badcoe Ex-Military Rehabilitation Centre and Operation Unity, and individuals like Dr Glen Edwards who, quite often, are there to pick up the pieces and lend their support and assistance to veterans when they need it.

The Albanese Labor government, however, is indeed committed to supporting our veterans and their families. I commend the minister, who is in the chamber right now, for the work he has done thus far and for the statement that he made in response to the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, where he outlined a whole series of strategies and support measures that arise from those recommendations that this government is committed to. More importantly, he has committed $234 million for 500 frontline DVA staff to deal with the backlog of claims. I note those claims have been reduced by 23 per cent in the last six months alone. He has also committed $46.7 million for 10 new veteran hubs across Australia—they will respond to the varied needs I referred to earlier on—and $24 million for the Veterans Employment Program.

Members opposite had been in government for 20 of the last 26 years. They've had considerable opportunities to address all the matters they now come into the chamber and raise. Indeed, looking at their track record, whether it was to do with the royal commission into veteran suicide, the awarding of the VC to Teddy Sheean—indeed, even in the last government we know there were reports their own minister was at odds with his own cabinet over support for our veterans. The government is getting on with the job, as it quite rightly should, to support our veterans. Yes, there'll be a further report when the final report of the royal commission is handed down, and I know the minister will do what he can to respond to the recommendations in that report.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take great pleasure in joining the debate on the motion moved by the member for Fisher. I take this opportunity to acknowledge all current serving members in Australia, and veterans as well, and people in this place who have served our nation in uniform. I thank you for that service.

There would be very few members in this place today, other than those who actually served in uniform, who would have spent as much time with our veterans communities as I have over the past five years. I'd say one thing to those opposite as they quote their Labor talking points: the one thing about our veterans is that they can smell bulldust when they see it and hear it, and what they've heard this morning is complete and utter bulldust. They understand this program has been cut. You can dress it up however you like—you can call it a pilot program or whatever you want to call it—but it is a cut. The minister himself is at the table, and he knows that he's had to cut the program, that he's decided to cut the program. Go out and defend it and say why you've cut the program. We haven't seen any information before us as to why those opposite think a program designed to help members transition to civilian life should be cut in this manner.

I sincerely want to pass this on to the member for Hasluck: if there's one portfolio in this place that has always enjoyed bipartisanship and a level of dignity above all others, it is the portfolio of Veterans' Affairs. What she had to say here this morning was appalling and not worthy of the bipartisanship this portfolio has always enjoyed. I pass that on to the member for Hasluck and encourage her to have a better look at the record of the coalition when we were in government and the various portfolio programs we initiated almost always with bipartisan support—initiated by members on this side with lived experience in our defence forces to make a difference in the lives of the men and women who serve in uniform and their families.

I thank the member for Fisher for bringing this motion to the House because it is entirely consistent with his approach in this place and his dedication to ensuring that our men and women who serve are given every opportunity to succeed when they transition to civilian life. The member for Fisher knows as well as I do the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of men and women who serve in uniform in this place train well, serve well, transition well and go on to become highly valued citizens in public life. I don't have to look very far around our community to see examples of men and women who've had military service delivering extraordinary programs through their public life or their private life.

When I was the veterans' affairs minister I was always keen to champion the opportunity for our private sector to hire veterans because, despite the diet of hopelessness and helplessness spread through the media, the vast majority of those who transitioned out of military went on to have successful civilian lives. And hiring a veteran was good for business. Hiring a veteran was something that the business community began to understand was a good tactical move on their behalf because these men and women had been trained, had loyalty, had leadership skills, had management skills and were highly capable at transitioning into civilian life and making a real difference in the broader community.

I just need to dispel some of the myths being perpetuated by those opposite here this morning, that somehow members on this side of the House didn't care about our veteran community during our time in office. It is an outrageous slur to suggest that there are members of this place who do not care about our veteran community, who do not want to make every effort to ensure they are well supported as they move into their civilian life. In our time in government, we introduced things like the veterans' payment for the time. The veterans payment was introduced whereby a veteran who was coming forward with mental health claims would receive a payment before that claim was even assessed. And we introduced free mental health care for all veterans and their families regardless of the conditions in which they sustained their injury.

We introduced the veterans' recognition bill, which was a deliberate strategy to encourage more veterans to come forward so that the Department of Veterans' Affairs would actually know who the veterans were. Until we were in government, the Department of Veterans' Affairs had no way of tracking whether a person was actually a veteran in the first place. So, for the very first time, the previous government introduced a question in the census asking people had they served in the Australian Defence Force. We found out that we had more veterans than we expected because more veterans came forward and acknowledged their service in that way, and we were able to help them.

We introduced, for the first time, psychiatric trained assistance dogs for veterans experiencing mental health concerns. We introduced that because we recognised it was one way we could support veterans who were suffering from PTSD. We were the first government to introduce wellbeing centres. The first six wellbeing centres were introduced by the previous coalition government, a policy the current government is continuing to develop.

All I would say in relation to this motion is those opposite need to be honest with the Australian veteran community. They need to acknowledge that all members in this place work tirelessly to make sure our veterans and their families are well supported in their civilian life.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our veterans have given so much for our country, and in return they deserve to be looked after. As a government it is our responsibility to make sure that when our servicemen and women return home they are supported to help them live the best life they can. One of the ways veterans can be supported to live their best lives is through access to education and employment. Study is one of the best ways to make sure veterans are equipped for a civilian workforce, which is no doubt in many ways an entirely different world to the one which they have become so used to during their service to our country.

Those opposite have stood in this place and made a lot of claims but make no mistake, this government supports veterans and their families, completely and unconditionally. The Incapacity Payments for Veterans Studying Pilot program was established with the aim of encouraging veterans to undertake full-time education as part of their rehabilitation program by maintaining their incapacity payments at the level of their prior salary at 100 per cent while participating in such full-time education to enhance their employment prospects. We did what the previous government did not do, despite saying they would, and extended this program to 30 June 2023. In making this extension, it was made clear this was only until 30 June, and in February 2023 all pilot program participants were again advised that it would end on 30 June 2023.

It's very important to note that the end of this pilot program will not affect other forms of education assistance from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and it will not prevent veterans from continuing their studies. What it will mean is, after 45 weeks on the incapacity payment at 100 per cent of their previous earnings, veterans will have their incapacity payments decreased to 75 per cent of their previous earnings, just as is the case for veterans not in the pilot program.

We want to help veterans and their families, but it is vital to make sure that we are providing the help that is needed and that the help that we are providing is effective and having a real impact in assisting veterans. In extending the pilot program, we were able to look at how effective it is. Approximately 600 veterans, of approximately 6,000 eligible veterans, have taken up the opportunity through this pilot program since 2018. This means that the take-up rate has been about 10 per cent, which is similar to the proportion of veterans that were undertaking full-time study as part of a rehabilitation program before this pilot program. We know that this pilot program has been of benefit for recipients, but the reality is that it has not achieved significant improvements to veterans' employment prospects when compared to those of eligible veterans who did not take part in the pilot program. It would be irresponsible for any government, and it would not be fair on veterans, to allocate money and resources to a program which does not adequately provide the assistance which is needed.

There is an alternative approach for supporting veterans' employment, and this approach will have real impacts. In the October budget, this government committed to and funded a $24 million veteran employment program which seeks to build on existing initiatives to raise awareness, highlight the benefits of employing veterans and veterans' families, provide support to businesses to attract, recruit and retain veterans and provide support to transfer veterans' military skills and experience to the civilian workplace. This program will support veterans to recognise and communicate the value of their skills gained in service—skills like leadership, teamwork, agility, discipline and the ability to work under pressure, which are all critical skills in the modern economy and which all employers are demanding currently. The skills of our veterans are so valuable, and it's important that employers know this. The program will also develop pathways for vocational education and qualification providers, as well as universities, to recognise and give credit for skills learned and experience gained through defence service.

In ending, I just want to say thank you to our veterans and their families for all they have sacrificed for this country. The government and our nation as a whole are in debt to you, and I assure you all this government has your back and we will always fight to make sure that you have effective assistance when you need it.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fisher for bringing this motion forward, and I also acknowledge all our service men and women, past and present, and thank you for your service to our country and the freedoms that we enjoy today.

I come from a region with an extremely proud military history. In fact, the Mid North Coast has the largest cohort of veterans in the state. As the federal representative, it is untenable to hear of the stripping of funding, programs and general resources from those men and women who have served our country. From the moment this new government came into power, the active deprioritisation of veteran support began. In my electorate of Cowper, the previously secured funding of $5 million for the Veterans Wellbeing Network Mid North Coast was immediately redirected. The money had been confirmed by the Department of Veterans' Affairs in the 2022 budget, much to the relief of the dedicated volunteers supporting our 9,000-strong veteran cohort and their families. The proposed network represented better value for the taxpayer, in that it funded not one but three physical centres, located from Grafton to Taree, for the same amount of money that a single centre in other electorates had previously been provided. But, by June 2022, the news came that, rather than being used to fund such a model, the money was now being redirected to a single wellbeing centre to service smaller numbers of veterans, in a Labor seat, due to a Labor election promise. Neither the October budget nor the most recent announcements have rectified this clear misappropriation of funds.

Just last month, we saw the removal of funding from the Soldier On Australia Pathway Program. Jody Geostis, our local Soldier On programs officer, was made redundant. She let me know that she had been advised that the DVAs Enhanced Employment Support for Veterans grant program, which assisted the Pathways Program, had not been renewed. This grant program had been her primary source of funding. RSL Australia also received funding under the same DVA grant previously, and they, along with Soldier On, had been advised that there was no identified alternative government funding stream available.

Now, we hear of another bipartisan program, which was introduced by the coalition in 2018 and subsequently championed by both the new minister and the new assistant minister sitting opposite just last year, has been unceremoniously dumped without warning or explanation. It's nothing short of negligent. The program was devised to maintain incapacity payments for veterans and was further improved to provide 100 per cent of veterans' preinjury earnings for them to undertake full-time study as part of a DVA approved rehabilitation plan, a sensible planning plan, a sensible program. In May last year this House debated and passed the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, and we were grateful, as a coalition, for the recognition of the successful program contained within the bill and to see the extension of the 100 per cent subsidy for another year. Eight months later, what do we see? The entire program is now coming to an end. There's been no formal announcement of the removal; it's just quietly being discontinued without consultation or rationale. If the program was unsuccessful in some way, where's the analysis?

I'm calling on the government to show our veterans and their families the respect they deserve and to provide them with the resourcing that they desperately need. I can't understand why the department would do this. If you look at the rates of suicide and the multitude of other issues that are endemic amongst our veteran community, any removal is completely inappropriate. The 600 veterans per year that will be impacted by Labor's decision to scrap the scheme deserve better. In the few seconds I have left, through the chair, I implore the minister to reinstate the funding for my veterans and allow them to have a place to go for their wellbeing.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to commend the motion to the House, and I thank the member for Fisher for bringing it to us. It is quite disappointing that we have to be having a partisan debate about anything to do with supporting our veterans, in particular this program. This is the first time I've ever spoken in a debate in this place about supporting our veterans where we haven't had that really important bipartisanship and unity amongst all members for something which I think is fundamental to the Australian character—ensuring we are doing absolutely everything and using all the resources available to us at every opportunity, as a government, to support those men and women who have served our nation in uniform.

Like any motion or bill in this place regarding veterans, I particularly thank all of the members of this House and the other house who have served our nation, particularly in conflict. I thank them for their service, and I recommit all of us to the important task of supporting veterans in their futures, from a health point of view, from a career point of view, from a wellbeing point of view.

In my electorate, I have the Jamie Larcombe Centre, which is an excellent facility providing support to my veteran community and, frankly, veterans throughout metropolitan Adelaide. I also have some unbelievable people in my RSL clubs that do excellent work and run excellent programs to support veterans from a variety of points of view in their post-service lives. That is why it is so disappointing to see we have lost the bipartisanship around this particular measure, around the proper and full support to veterans while studying as they seek to maximise their future opportunity in their careers post serving our nation. It is with great regret that we have seen a breakdown of this bipartisanship.

A good example of where this program may well have an excellent future, or would have if it continued on, is the exciting pathways for our veterans that will continue to be created as the defence industry in my home state of South Australia increases through programs like the submarines and the Future Frigate Program, if the Labor government isn't planning on scrapping that, as has been quietly leaked to the media, strategically, in recent days and weeks. We have an enormously enhanced skills capacity in a range of different levels of education, and this program could no doubt have provided the kind of support for veterans who see opportunities to study and to go into those exciting shipbuilding programs in both the frigate program and submarine program.

But by taking this support away, I do regret that there is a good chance that there will be veterans that would have availed themselves of this opportunity, would have used this program to support their study to get qualifications that could have led them to a very significant career in naval shipbuilding in my home state of South Australia. Regrettably, that will not be the case now for many veterans because this program is being taken away, and that won't just be the case in South Australia; it will be the case across the nation.

Supporting veterans in every way we possibly can to achieve their full potential post service career is something that I would have hoped we would have complete unanimity around in this place. That is why I thank the member for Fisher so much for highlighting this, because it is indeed an opportunity for us to talk about how we need to have bipartisanship and unity around supporting our veterans' community towards achieving their full potential in a post-service career. By taking this program away, indeed, we are in a situation where someone if misses that opportunity, they will miss the opportunity of achieving their full potential in a future career. That is very regrettable and disappointing. I urge the government to reconsider this. I urge the government to think about the sorts of future participants in this program that could have achieved great things and will not be able to do so because they are taking it away. I hope they will reflect on this, reconsider the decision, and reinstate the program. I commend the motion to the chamber.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the short time I have available, I will respond to the motion brought forward by the member for Fisher. It is important that those opposite understand the true meaning of what one-off programs are and what pilot programs are. While I am glad for the bipartisan support that comes from the opposition on many measures that support our veterans, it is important that they understand the program that they set up to increasing capacity payments for a short period while a veteran was undertaking education was just that; it was a pilot program. They committed to extending it but they didn't deliver on it. They left that to us going into government. We did that. We also said we would evaluate the program. That was critical. We undertook the evaluation of the pilot and what we found was that it was not encouraging more people to undertake the program, to undertake education or to go on to employment. So while the goals and objectives were positive and good and we supported those, what we found was the program didn't deliver on those outcomes, and that is why the pilot came to an end, as we said it would when we did a one-year extension, as we said it would when we communicated early to all those veterans that were participating in the program.

We, like any government, I hope, undertake pilots so we can see if things work. If they don't seem to deliver outcomes, we want to make sure we are focused on the things that do actually deliver the positive outcomes that we all want to see for our veterans by doing things like responding to the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, by doing things like delivering the rollout of our veterans and family hubs across Australia and by doing things like delivering on housing for homeless veterans by supporting a Housing Australia Future Fund, something that those opposite, the Liberal Party, the National Party and the Greens have continued to fail to do. When they come in here with a motion about us not supporting veterans, when we've done the right thing, they need to look at themselves and at what they are not doing in the Senate, right now, which is harming veterans. We're committed to a better future for our veterans and families, and all I ask is that those opposite in the Senate do the same.