John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I am going to provide what information I can to Senator Cormann. It would be very difficult in the space of a minute to answer all the issues that he requested me to address. Fundamentally, you might be aware, Senator Abetz, that what Senator Cormann requested I do is to pass these questions on to my colleague the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. I will do that. I will also say in the time available to me, adding to my previous answer, that if there were no MBS item for cataract surgery then DVA could pay for such surgery if the Repatriation Commission delegate took the view that the surgery would provide a substantial benefit to the health of the entitled person in question. That is, DVA has a legal mechanism that will allow continued funding of the cataract surgery, independent of the MBS and the current— (Time expired)