GRIFFIN ROLLED BY RUDD’S VETERANS ‘ECHO-NOMICS’

The Howard Government's $330 million disability pensions' enhancement package has won enthusiastic endorsement from the veterans' community and prompted Labor to publicly dump its own $55 million alternative announced a day earlier.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Bruce Billson said the Howard Government had worked hard in collaboration with the veterans' community to enhance this area of policy in a thoughtful and principled way, in stark contrast to Labor's ever-changing position and overblown claims.

Labor had found the task too difficult and has again resorted to instantly echoing the Government's announcement without being able to even explain what it is and what it will do.

"As the Prime Minister announced the Government's comprehensive $330 million package to the applause of the RSL National Congress, Opposition leader Kevin Rudd appeared to be re-working his speech, to quickly set the scene to again hook the ALP's wagon to the hard work of the Howard Government," Mr Billson said.

"Considering Labor's long and appalling track-record in veterans' affairs there is very real reason to be skeptical of a policy-switch on the run by Kevin Rudd, the king of headline chasing as opposed to hard policy work."

Since May, Labor has twisted and contorted its position several times on indexation policy in a bid to deflect scrutiny from a series of ill-conceived announcements, that shadow veterans' affairs spokesman Alan Griffin has conceded are beyond his grasp.

In March the Government announced that Special Rate and Intermediate Rate pension payments would be immediately increased by $50 and $25 per fortnight, under a $160 million measure making Special Rate recipients $7,500 better off by September 2012.

By comparison Labor flagged vague indexation changes that would not take effect until September 2008, that would benefit 43,000 veterans.  These it costed at $61 million and claimed would see a Special Rate recipient just $1,700 better off by September 2012.

"At the time I highlighted the fact that Labor's indexation approach was unprincipled and discriminatory in that it ignored the plight of some 100,000 veterans with disabilities. Labor knee-jerked by claiming it would also embrace the Government's increases," Mr Billson said.

Anticipating a comprehensive Howard Government indexation announcement at the RSL National Congress, Labor scrambled to address the short-comings of its earlier announcement, by claiming it would change indexation for all DVA disability pensioners and war widows from September 2008 in a measure costed at $55 million.

At the RSL Congress the Prime Minister announced a $330 million support package for disabled veterans.  Under the package all veterans affairs disability pensions will be indexed with reference to both the Consumer Price Index and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings from March 2008, in the same way service pensions are currently indexed.

In addition, more than 13,500 Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA) recipients will also receive a fortnightly increase of $15 from March 2008.  Under the Howard Government's package the General Rate Table for 'non-economic loss' compensation will be increased by 5 per cent from March 2008, and also adjusted by the more beneficial indexation method.

For comparison a Special Rate Pensioner under the Howard Government's measures would receive $1,131.22 per fortnight in March 2012.  Under Labor's final independent position, the same pensioner would receive some $73.00 less per fortnight, or about $1,900 over a year.

"It's little wonder Kevin Rudd abandoned the Labor policy and hung Mr Griffin out to dry, just hours after he was out spruiking another Labor policy position, that barely lasted a day," Mr Billson said.

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