MOTIONS

Mr FRENCH (Moore) (11:11): I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Riverina. The central issue in this motion has now been resolved. The proposed $5,000 allied health threshold has been taken off the table.

The government listened to veterans, their families, ex-service organisations and health providers and responded to the concerns raised. Eligible Veteran Card holders will continue to access allied health treatment under the current arrangements. But it's also important to be clear about what had been proposed.

This was not a hard cap where clinically necessary treatment simply stopped. The proposal sought to replace the existing treatment cycle, where veterans can be required to return to the GP for another referral after 12 allied health visits. For around 90 per cent of veterans, practitioners and GPs, the intention was to reduce that administrative burden while clinically necessary treatment could continue above that threshold.

The government heard the concerns about that approach and acted on them. This is meaningful consultation: develop reform, listen to the people affected and allow that consultation to shape the final policy. What remains is this government's commitment to improving access to allied health care.

The increase in DVA allied health provider fees announced in the budget will still go ahead, the largest increase in 20 years. This motion also gives us an opportunity to look at the broader Veterans' Affairs record. The member for Riverina knows the portfolio.

He served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs from December 2017 until March 2018. Over nine years of coalition government, Australia went through six ministers for veteran affairs. Now, I don't question the commitment of each person who held the portfolio, but six ministers in nine years creates a continuity problem.

Australia already has short election cycles. Governments have, at most, three years before they face the Australian people again. We do not need to make that effective policy cycle even shorter by continually changing the minister responsible.

Veterans' Affairs deals with compensation, rehabilitation, health care, transition from Defence, support for families and legislation accumulated over decades. It is a portfolio where experience, relationships and continuity are particularly important. The member for Burt has served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs since June 2022.

During that period, there has been substantial reform. When Labor came to government, almost 42,000 veteran claims had not even been allocated for assessment. The government properly resourced DVA, and that inherited backlog has now been cleared.

We've also undertaken major reform of the veterans compensation system. For decades, veterans could find themselves navigating three separate compensation and rehabilitation acts. The royal commission found that the complexity of legislation could adversely affect veterans' mental health.

From 1 July this year, new compensation and rehabilitation claims are being dealt with under one ongoing act, making the system simpler for veterans and their families. Of the royal commission's 122 recommendations, the government has now agreed in principle to 113. These are substantial reforms, and they require a minister who understands the portfolio, has relationships with the veteran community and remains responsible for carrying reform through.

That is why stability is important. Stability does not mean refusing to listen. The allied health consultation demonstrates exactly that.

Veterans and providers raised concerns; the government responded. The fee increase remains, while work continues to strengthen the broader veteran support system. The cost of political instability is not simply another reshuffle.

It is the disruption to long-term reform and the loss of institutional knowledge each time responsibility changes hands. Our veterans deserve a properly resourced system. They deserve meaningful consultation.

They deserve reform that lasts, and they deserve ministers who remain in the portfolio long enough to see that reform through. That is what the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and this government are continuing to deliver.