A milestone occurred on Thursday 20th March 2014 when the Coalition Government delivered on its long-standing promise by introducing to Parliament a Bill to restore fair indexation to DFRB/DFRDB scheme military superannuants aged over 55 and over. The Bill extends the same provisions to reversionary pensioners as well.
Although what happened in the House and the Senate is summarised in the attached Monthly Update, briefly, the (Fair Indexation) Bill 2014 passed the Senate and into Law late on Thursday the 27th March 2014. All sides of politics supported the legislation. Many acknowledged and gave recognition to not only the ‘unique nature’ of military service but also to the self evident fact that the ex service community had had a valid long-standing grievance that needed to be fixed.
DFWA, together with its partners in the Alliance (ADSO), extends its thanks to the Government in particular for delivering on the pledge it made to the veterans’ community even before the 2010 election. A special thanks is extended to the Prime Minister himself, and to his Defence and Veterans’ Affairs team in Senators David Johnston and Michael Ronaldson, and to the Assistant Defence Minister, Stuart Robert MP. They were each committed champions to the veterans’ cause in this regard.
But DFWA and its ADSO partners also extends its thanks to each member of the Labor Opposition, the Greens, the Palmer United Party, the Katter Australia Party, and to each of the Independents in both the House and the Senate for supporting the passage of the Bill in a truly bipartisan way. The veterans’ community as a whole is most grateful for the outcome.
Among several other key issues discussed in this Update includes a comment as to what is likely to happen when the current ADF Workplace Remuneration Arrangement (WRA) 2011/2014 expires later this year; a comment also on the dramatic attention getting news headline announced ‘Orphans of soldiers to have welfare payments cut’.
Importantly, the Update briefly comments on the priority the Association will apply to restoring fair indexation as well to the under 55s and to those on MSBS. Special emphasis will be placed on the disabled, by restoring DVA Disability Pension Indexation to parity.