MEDIA STATEMENT – VETERANS POLICIES EMERGE FROM THE WILDERNESS

27 Jun 2016

DKJ4Over a period of two month leading up to the election the Alliance of Defence Service Organisations (ADSO) implored all political parties to consider early release of their policies likely to impact serving and former ADF members and their families. The intent was to distribute those policies to them. Those calls fell on deaf ears, until the ALP made a veterans’ policy announcement barely two weeks before polling day.

Although belated, that announcement was welcomed. But the veterans’ community remained seriously disappointed that there appeared to have been little attention given to redressing their key issues. either now or into the foreseeable future. With less than a week before the election a trickle feed of veterans’ policies from other Parties are beginning to emerge. That includes ones from the Government which ADSO’s National Spokesman, David Jamison, welcomed.

Mr Jamison observed that the Government had increased its funding commitments and had picked up several of ADSO’s key policy objectives to support veterans. However, disappointingly, the policies excluded mention as to how or even whether any of the three following key objectives were to be ever addressed:

1. Enact an Australian Military Accord formally stating the obligations of the Nation to its service personnel and their families;

2. Restore disabled veterans compensation payments for its loss of value and provide our most disabled veterans with an income level enabling them to live
with dignity and provide for their families; and

3. Remove the discriminatory provisions of the military superannuation schemes.

ADSO calls on the Government, the ALP and all parties not already supporting its objectives, to reconsider including them in current election platforms. 

ADSO is analyzing known policies from the political parties and is about to release a report card comparing their veteran policies against the Alliance’s major objectives.

Contacts
ADSO Campaign Co Directors: Ted Chitham (0418) 733 887 and Alf Jaugietis (0438) 282 284
ADSO National Spokesman: David Jamison (0416) 107 557

United we Stand, Divided we Fall