Statute Update Bill 2026

Senator CASH (Western Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (15:00): I rise to support the Statute Update Bill 2026 and in particular the amendment that will be moved by the coalition to 'scrap Labor's cruel veterans tax'. That's right: today is a test. In about 30 minutes, the Senate is going to go for a vote, and it is going to be a test for the Prime Minister of this country, Anthony Albanese.

Is he directing his Labor senators to support our amendment to stand with the veterans of Australia and scrap his cruel veterans tax? It is also a test, though, for the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Keogh. He keeps on saying to the veterans: 'I have listened to you.

I have heard you.' We heard that from Senator Wong this week: 'The government has heard what the veterans have to say.' Well, given that the veterans have told you they don't want your cap on their allied health, I will assume that, when those division bells ring, you will join the rest of the crossbench and the coalition and you will scrap your cap on allied health.

Quite frankly, these veterans have served our country. They have stood up for Australia, for the freedoms that we live and breathe on a daily basis, and how dare you look them in the eye and thank them for their service by putting a $5,000 price tag on their care? I tell you the coalition will stand with our veterans each and every single day.

We have listened to them. We have met with them. We didn't roll our eyes at them.

And I can tell you we absolutely shook their hands when they came into our office, unlike their minister, who is meant to be the person in Australia who actually stands up for them. Our amendment is clear. It will well and truly scrap the Prime Minister of Australia's cruel cap on allied health for our veterans who have served our country, because, unlike the Prime Minister and unlike the minister, the coalition doesn't look at our veterans and say: 'We've got a black hole to fill in our budget because of our financial mismanagement, and do you know what I see?

I see a bit of a cut there with our veterans. They've served our country. They've come back here.

They're injured. But, you know, perhaps they won't notice if we actually take $748 million in a save.' The veterans of Australia! Well, guess what.

The coalition looks at our veterans very differently. We look at our veterans and what we see is a debt that this country must honour. Australia made a promise to our veterans: if you stand up for your country, your country will stand by you.

We know that promise does not expire when the uniform comes off, and I tell you it should not expire when a veteran's allied health care reaches the cap of $5,000. You can call it a cap. You can call it a threshold.

You can rebadge it. You can bury it in bureaucratic language and you can make excuses for it. But it doesn't actually change what you are doing to the veterans of Australia.

It was heartbreaking to see some of them outside Parliament House, Canberra this week laying down their medals—medals that they had earned for bravery, medals they had earned for standing up not just for their country but for each and every one of us in this chamber so that we can live and breathe democracy on a daily basis. And how do you repay those veterans?

You repay them by putting in place a cap on their health care for injuries they sustained while serving our country, because you have lost control of the economy. Colleagues, at 3.30 today the bells are going to ring. And I hope the Prime Minister of Australia is on the phone to Minister Keogh and to Senator Wong, saying to them, 'Support the coalition,' because in supporting the coalition you support the veterans.

Prime Minister, in about 25 minutes, our veterans will know: do you stand with them or are you going to fail them and betray them yet again? (Time expired)