Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

To start with, let us pin down what qualifies a person to be a DFRDB recipient: 20 years of continuous service in the Defence Force. You have to shift around the country; you have to do a lot of things. There is a lot of inconvenience and a there is a lot of sacrifice. What we always say about defence brats is thank goodness for Facebook, because until then they lost friends every two years; and they end up with a great collection of school uniforms.

When I was a candidate in 2010, I was doorknocking in Kirwan, and there was a bloke in his front yard, mucking around in his tinny. I asked him what was bothering him. He said: 'Don't worry about bothering me, mate. I'll vote for the people that bring in DFDRB fair indexation.' Now, at that stage, I did not even know what DFRDB was, let alone fair indexation of it. I asked him about it and he said, 'In 2007 Kevin Rudd got our votes by saying that he was going to bring in fair indexation, and we believed him. He did not. He brought in the Matthews review and it is just the same old.'

I am not going to blame the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government for not bringing this about, because this problem started in the seventies with Whitlam. So Gough Whitlam and the Labor government in the 1970s could have fixed that up. Fraser in the 1970s and the 1980s could have fixed it up. Hawke could have fixed it up. Keating could have fixed it up. Howard could have fixed it up. Rudd-Gillard-Rudd could have fixed it up. We went to the 2010 election saying that we would bring about fair indexation for veterans who had done 20 years service. Of course, at the moment DFRDB is only indexed to the CPI. Fair indexation will bring it into line with other Commonwealth pensions—that is, with male total average weekly earnings and the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index.

Even though we have brought this about, even though we signed the pledge, even though Tony Abbott said it must be done and even though Senator Ronaldson went around the country telling everyone that we would so this, there are still veterans out there saying that we are not going to do it. That is how far entrenched the feeling against us is when it comes to this issue.

I have to say thank you to my veterans. I have to say thank you to my veterans for educating me on what it is to be a proponent of fair indexation. I want to single out one person, because I know that he will deflect the blame to absolutely everyone else. The person probably most responsible for getting me up to speed on this and making sure I was passionate about it is Brigadier Neil Weekes. I see the member for Longman entering the chamber. Brigadier Weekes was a constituent of mine; he is now a constituent of the electorate of Longman.

My office organised a petition in favour of this reform. We got 14,000 signatures from people all around the world—even people from South America signed the petition. I am very proud that the policy we took to the electorate in 2010 was also the policy we took to the electorate in 2013. I am very proud that today we are bringing it to fruition. I am very proud of this moment in time. I will be going back to my veterans and saying, 'We have done this.'

What I will not cop is the amendment from the member for Denison. I have here a press release from the member for Denison dated 30 July 2013. He stated in this chamber that he wants DFRB to be fair indexed for all recipients, and yet in July 2013, when Labor brought in their policy of fair indexation for recipients over age 65, the member for Denison sent out a press release congratulating the then Labor government, not once criticising the fact that the policy was limited to over 65s and contained no male total average weekly earnings indexation as part of the scheme. So the member for Denison comes in here with his pious amendment and stands up seeking another opportunity to put out a press release lionising himself as the person sticking up for all veterans. This should be seen for what it is: an act of shameless self-promotion. He should be ashamed. He should drag his backside back in here and withdraw the amendment. He should bring this to a head. In my entire time in this place, I have never seen a more flagrant display of self-promotion at the expense of others than that I have just witnessed with that amendment to this bill.

I stand by our commitment to veterans. I stand by Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of this country, who just said to Senator Ronaldson, 'It is time; it is right.' We should be doing this. It is only right. Veterans are not asking for anything extra. All that my veterans and the veterans around Australia are asking for is what is fair. That is all they are asking for. Once we get this done, Neil Weekes can start coming at me on something else. I thank the House.

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