STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Deputy Leader of the National Party) (13:57): These are important words in the Australian Defence Veterans' Covenant, which was passed in 2019: For what they have done, this we will do. It's a solemn commitment. The one person in this place who should take that commitment more seriously than anyone else is the Minister for Veterans' Affairs.

But we've seen this week that this minister is failing our veterans. He's failing to listen, he's failing to respond to their concerns and he's failing to show them the basic respect that they have earned. We know this minister refused to meet with a group of veterans because he didn't want to hear what they had to say about his cruel cap on allied health funding.

His decision to ration allied health services was not a recommendation of the royal commission. He made that one up himself. It's a cut to veterans' services without any consultation with our veterans, and this minister didn't want to listen to their complaints until he was shamed into that meeting.

Then, according to an Air Force veteran Tim Nelson, he was rude to them because he was missing out on a function with the Governor-General. Tim Nelson said: He walked into the room, refused to shake our hand, sat down with his arms crossed, and rolled his eyes. Minister, it's time to scrap this cruel cap and show some respect for our veterans.