MOTIONS

Mr VENNING (Grey) (11:26): It's interesting to see Labor trying to defend the indefensible. Our veterans fought for us. They served in places most of us will never see.

They sacrificed to protect the freedoms and the way of life we enjoy here today and they carried the consequences home long after the mission ended. And what did this Labor government do? They put a price tag on their care.

Labor announced a $5,000 cap on veterans allied health. That's a cap on the treatment that keeps injured and traumatised veterans functioning day to day—a cap on health care. That meant a veteran with a complex injury or a mental health condition stemming from service was being told that the government's generosity had a ceiling and that, at some arbitrary dollar figure, care might stop or be put into doubt.

Veterans pleaded with the government to think again, and for months Labor defended the cap. Even today we do not have the Minister for Veterans' Affairs here defending the cap or, now, defending the backflip. Think about what this cap would do to a person.

A veteran managing chronic pain or post-traumatic stress is already carrying a heavy load—along with the worry of whether the treatment they rely on will still be there next year and months of feeling like their own government was against them. When the backlash grew, did Labor admit that they had made a mistake? No, they didn't.

Did they try to pretend that the cap wasn't a cap? Yes, they did. You can change the label on the tin, but it's still the same tin, and we all knew it.

Then Labor finally backed down and scrapped the cap all together. That decision is of course extremely welcome, but let's not pretend that this is a story of good government. It is a story of a government that got it wrong, defended it wrong and only fixed it when it was forced to.

The coalition opposed it from the very start and the minister responsible, who sat through months of pleading from veterans and still defended the indefensible, has failed in his duty to those he was supposed to serve. But this is not over. The Department of Veterans' Affairs is still considering what will replace the cap.

Whatever comes out of this must not be a cap by another name. Labor has already shown us it's willing to rebadge the cap and hope no-one notices. We will be watching the DVA's consultation very closely.

We also welcome the fee increase for allied health providers, but it must now go ahead in full with no strings attached. If veterans are to get the care they need, those who deliver it must be properly supported, and that is why this bill matters. It locks in what veterans fought for so no future government can quietly bring back a cap on their care.

Members in this place who say they back veterans now have a chance to prove it, because this is about more than one cap. We believe our Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans deserve better. They deserve certainty, not months of worry.

They deserve respect. This is why we will fix the economy and protect our way of life. Our plan includes a national security strategy and investing at least three per cent of our GDP in Defence so our servicemen and servicewomen have the resources, equipment and protection they need.

Those who protect us should never have to fight for what they have earned. Labor has finally done the right thing, but it took months of pressure and a government dragged kicking and screaming to the right answer. Our veterans deserve better than that, and they always have.