QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (15:11): I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today. I say, then, to the people of Australia: Give of your best in the service of the nation. There is a place and part for all of us.

Each must take his or her place in the service of the nation, for the nation itself is in peril. This is our darkest hour. There would be one Labor luminary more than any other that would be turning over in his grave today if he himself were to have witnessed the performance of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Keogh.

That, of course, is the Labor wartime prime minister, John Curtin. Those are the remarks he shared with the nation when he declared that Australia would be at war with Japan in 1941—profound and understood how critical the depth of service and depth of conviction is. He would have been more outraged, rolling again in his grave, to learn that this is the action this Minister for Veterans' Affairs has taken in what is a very significant and critical year of commemoration.

Let me remind you that this is the 125th anniversary of the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy. Just last month, we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Soon, we will celebrate 25 years of service in Afghanistan.

This year we'll celebrate the 75th anniversary of national service, which saw 280,000 Australian men called to service in the period from 1951 to 1972. What we have here in regard to Minister Keogh, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, is not an isolated incident but another incident in his management of the Veterans' Affairs portfolio which points to lack of care and lack of attention.

Just last week, I had the opportunity to host veteran leaders and veteran organisations in my office with the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, Michael McCormack. What they had to share reflects the concerns and frustrations and, in some instances, the fears that our veterans communities have in regard to this latest initiative to cap access to allied health services.

Let's be clear: this is not Minister Keogh's initiative; this is the government's initiative to save for itself around $700 million. That $700 million in savings comes from the anxieties, the frustrations and the fears of those in our veterans communities—and, I might add, their partners and their extended families. I'm curious to know how many government members have in their close proximity veterans, veterans' families— (Time expired)