Page 3759 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the issues and stories of veterans are something which has had an impact on my family history also.
I would like to note that the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, has been a very strong advocate for veterans and has actively lobbied on their behalf over a number of years. Much of what does occur in addressing veterans’ needs does occur at a federal level with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. My main concern with establishing a veterans ministry in the ACT is that it would primarily become a lobbying avenue. However, I can see merit in bringing under one umbrella all issues in the ACT which affect veterans. Reviewing support to defence and veterans communities in the ACT would be useful for all relevant ACT departments to understand their needs now and into the future.
I would like to address one specific issue which greatly affects many veterans. Canberra has many veterans and many commonwealth superannuants. People imagine that, when they retire, public servants and defence force personnel enjoy very generous superannuation but that is not necessarily the case. Many of them, particularly veterans, as it happens, retire on partial superannuation pensions. Members would be aware that commonwealth pensions such as the old age pension are indexed against the consumer price index and the wage price index. In other words, they are increased at a higher rate, whereas defence force and commonwealth superannuation is indexed only at the CPI.
For the past 10 years or so, the WPI has significantly outstripped the CPI. The result has been that superannuants are finding their living standard falling. Various election campaigns have seen promises made by local politicians to push for a change to the way indexation is set. However, when push comes to shove, the federal government has not progressed this issue.
I do not know what an ACT government minister for veterans affairs could actually do about it. At the very least they could lend their weight to the argument that defence force and commonwealth superannuants ought not to find themselves falling behind through a mistake of history. So I do hope this is something which not only our ACT government ministers pursue but also our federal ACT members.
The Greens seek to make one very minor amendment which does not affect the substance of the motion. I move:
In paragraph (3), omit the words “Stanhope-Gallagher Government”, substitute “ACT Government”.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (6.22): I rise this evening to support the fine men and women that comprise Canberra’s serving and ex-service community. All Australians must forever be grateful for the contribution and sacrifices made by serving and ex-service defence force members and their families. Australia is a great nation, and one that I wholeheartedly believe is the best country in the world. This fact is one that I think we must never be complacent about.
The motto of the Returned and Services League of Australia is:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .