Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Boswell, we are doing this because it is the right thing to do. We are doing this because we said we would do it. I will throw a challenge out today to the Australian Labor Party and the Greens. I just wonder whether they are prepared to follow the lead of Senator Xenophon, who wrote to me this morning and said that he will be supporting this legislation.

Are Senator Wright and Senator Farrell going to stand up here today and say they are supporting this legislation and put it through immediately as non-controversial legislation, or are they going to keep on playing games with the lives of 57,000 families in this country? You have a big decision to make. You can do it today—resolve this—and send the message out, Senator Farrell, that you are serious about these families, or you can continue to prevaricate and oppose measures that are fair and decent for honest people who have served this nation.