Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Minchin and Senator Bishop for their contributions. I particularly want to acknowledge the work of Senator Bishop. He knows, I think, more than almost anyone about policy development in this area. He covered the changes in his contribution in great detail. When he was our shadow minister, he played a major role and in fact identified the issues—the improvements in veterans entitlements—that are before the Senate. He identified those issues, those gaps, in his capacity as shadow minister, and then that was carried through and presented as policy at the last election. So I want to acknowledge the very important role that Senator Bishop played and the detailed knowledge he has about the policy development. As he said, a relatively small number of people and a modest cost are involved, but, just the same, the gaps and disadvantage that were identified are very important to those individuals affected. I commend the Veterans’ Entitlements Legislation Amendment (2007 Election Commitments) Bill 2008 to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.