Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Anning for his question and also acknowledge those members of the ADF Parliamentary Program who join us here in the gallery this afternoon. I don't necessarily accept all of Senator Anning's characterisation during his question, but I can say, on advice from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, that submissions seeking a review of a nature-of-service classification for past service are considered in the context of the legislation and policies that applied at the time of the service. The applicable legislation for the period of Rifle Company Butterworth's service in question is the Repatriation (Special Overseas Service) Act 1962 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. Service is considered to be warlike service if certain conditions described in the applicable legislation are met. The matter of Australian Defence Force service in Malaysia, including Rifle Company Butterworth's service, has indeed been considered by several independent reviews. Those reviews include the 1993 Committee of Inquiry into Defence Awards, the 2000 Review of Service Entitlement Anomalies in Respect to South-East Asian Service 1955-1975, the 2003 Review of Veterans' Entitlements, the 2011 Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal Inquiry into Recognition for Members of Rifle Company Butterworth Service in Malaysia between 1970 and 1989, and the New Zealand government, the Medallic Recognition Joint Working Group on Service in South-East Asia 1950-2011 published in 2013. Each of those reviews has consistently found that Rifle Company Butterworth's service, as described by Senator Anning and as I referred to in my earlier remarks, does not qualify as warlike service under the applicable legislation.