The Australian News 19 November 2014
VETERANS are again urging Prime Minister Tony Abbott to personally intervene to ensure Defence personnel get a better pay deal.
THEY also want the government to back away from plans to alter the rate of indexation for veteran and war widow pensions.
A round-table of veteran and ex-service organisations, including the Defence Force Welfare Association, Legacy and War Widows Guild, are not happy with the government.
“The organisations issue a plea to the prime minister to personally intervene,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They want Mr Abbott to rework the “unfair” pay offer and to tackle other outstanding issues affecting both the serving and retired defence communities.
They called on Mr Abbott to ensure there were no changes to twice-yearly pension adjustments.
The government is planning to increase all pensions in line with the consumer price index rather than by average male weekly earnings.
The organisations also want the government to ensure defence pay deals reflect cost-of-living increases.
And they don’t want future deals to be negotiated behind closed doors.