MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator SHOEBRIDGE (New South Wales) (16:35): Veterans can see through the messaging that's coming from the Labor Party. They've been done over by the coalition before. They remember what it's like—being ignored and put at the back of the queue.

Labor comes out and says: 'Oh, it's not a cap. This isn't a cap on services. It's just a review point.' But veterans can read a budget like I can read a budget.

You can see in the veterans budget that this government is proposing to save three-quarters of a billion dollars by putting in this 'not a cap but a review'. We'll call that what it is: absolutely unparliamentary language. That is what this is.

When I first raised this issue in estimates, I was shocked at the lack of information. When we drilled down we found that, actually, 25,000 veterans are currently getting allied health services in advance of this cap. I have had so many veterans come into my offices to talk with me and communicate with my team a deep fear about this, because they know this is life and death.

It can be as urgent as veterans with complex PTSD getting to see a psychologist, or someone who's injured in combat getting to see a physio so they can play with their kids. That's what this is about. Defence always seems to have money—for US corporations, for more money for the Defence senior brass—but they're slashing it for the men and women who served.

Defence is currently spending $43 billion on half a dozen useless frigates and $375 billion on AUKUS, and they won't pay for a veteran's physio. Those are the priorities here. It reveals a lot about any government, about how they treat people who served in good faith and then just got put on the scrap heap.

Veterans have seen it time and time again. Well, we're on their side on this. (Time expired)