May
7 2007
LOCAL
VETERANS WILL BENEFIT UNDER LABOR
A Rudd Labor Government will restore
the value of the Special Disability Pension (TPI and TTI),
Intermediate Rate and the Extreme Disablement Adjustment Pensions by
indexing the whole of these pensions to movements in Male Total
Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) or the Consumer Price Index (CPI),
whichever is greater Member for Werriwa Chris Hayes said today.
“This is great news for the local
veterans’ who have been deeply concerned about this issue for a
decade.
“As a regular visitor to Dredges
Cottage in Campbelltown I have heard first hand the impact of the
Howard Government’s 1997 decision has had on veterans and their
families”, he said.
“Labor’s announcement means that the
three pensions will not continue to have their value eroded and it
will take place in the first budget set by a Rudd Labor Government”,
he said.
Mr Hayes said that in 1997 the
Special rate Disability Pension represented 46.3 percent of Male
Total Average Weekly Earnings and on the most available figures it
has fallen to 42.9 percent.
“Under Labor’s plan pensions will
build to $30 a fortnight more than they otherwise would have been”,
he said.
“The Howard Government has made some
half hearted efforts to fix the problem but these have been nothing
but band aids. Basically veterans have been ignored on this issue
but a Rudd Labor Government will introduce a real solution”, Mr
Hayes said.
Mr Hayes said that Labor’s
announcement will benefit more than 180 veterans in the Werriwa
electorate and would mean a net benefit of more than $300,000.
“Our veterans have paid a high price
for their service to our country and I am sure that this
announcement will be a welcome one to the veterans and their
families who have raised this issue with me either personally or
through their letters and emails to my office.
“This announcement concerns the most
severely disabled of our war veterans included those who served in
World War II, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, the Gulf War, East Timor, Iraq
and Afghanistan”, he said.
Mr Hayes said that the measure has
been budgeted to cost $61 million from September 20, 2008 – the day
of indexation.
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