Radio Interview - ABC North Queensland Townsville Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC NORTH QUEENSLAND TOWNSVILLE BREAKFAST
WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH 2025

SUBJECTS: Budget; Liberal’s Plan to Cut Frontline DVA Staff.

HOST, MICHAEL CLARKE: So, joining us today is Matt Keogh, who's the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. Minister, thanks for your time this morning.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Great to be with you, Michael. And just listening to that road report, I think it completely justifies why we need to make that $7.2 billion investment in the Bruce.

CLARKE: Look, it really underlines it. This is a crucial issue and we do want to see a lot of that spending happen in this part of Queensland.

MINISTER KEOGH: Look, absolutely, we understand. And that infrastructure spend that you've seen rolled out in the Budget last night by Jim Chalmers, like the $7.2 billion in the Bruce, critically important. And we saw that not just through your area in Townsville and North Queensland, but then also that connectivity for Far North Queensland as well, when we've had the storm fronts and cyclones and everything else that that area is so prone to. And so that's really critical infrastructure investment that we see in the Budget that Treasurer Chalmers handed down. But it's all part of also making sure that we've got a responsible Budget that's making the investments that we need to make like that in critical infrastructure. The tax cuts that you mentioned before, whilst also delivering on those cost of living relief for people right across the country, including in Northern Queensland, whether that's with the tax cuts, but also the energy bill credits, the further energy bill credit of $150 that was announced just before the Budget, as well as that bringing down the cost of medicines, you know, bringing those PBS scripts down to $25, a real significant saving, especially for those that are having to take medicine on a very regular basis.

CLARKE: Minister, as you say, you're aware of the cost of living crisis affecting Australians, including North Queenslanders. Why then have tax cuts that might just amount to $5 or $10 a week? Is that really making an impact on people's lives?

MINISTER KEOGH: I think the tax cuts will certainly make an impact because what you will see in the first round of that tax cut that kicks in next year, that'll be $43 a week back into people's pockets on average. And the following year that'll go up to $50 a week going back into people's pockets. But of course, it builds on the tax cuts that we delivered in the middle of last year and that was a significant change. That was where the Labor Government recognised that in order to meet those cost of living pressures, delivering a tax cut just to those who earn the most was not an appropriate way to deliver tax cuts. We delivered tax cuts to every taxpayer last year and these tax cuts build on those tax cuts and are delivered to every taxpayer in Australia.

CLARKE: Now, with your area of expertise, Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel, of course, Defence spending really crucial in this part of the world, particularly Townsville. What did the Budget offer Defence families?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, there's a number of initiatives that we've got here that are going to be of benefit for Defence families and for veterans. And I think when we look across the Defence expenditure, there's been quite a bit of focus globally on how much is being spent on Defence by countries around the world. This sees a bringing forward an additional billion dollars of expenditure in the Budget to deliver critical infrastructure and capability upgrades. And up in the north, we're talking about projects in particular that are going to support the new helicopter capabilities going into Townsville. So, there's upgrades to facilities and infrastructure for the training areas up there. So, it's about a half a billion dollars of new projects approved for those upgrades, as well as upgrades to the ground lighting at the base of over $120 million. That's an injection into the local economy in Townsville as well as growing that Defence capability that. You know, Townsville is a garrison city. I'm sure many people listening to your radio station are in the Defence Force or have got family members in the Defence Force or have previously served. There's around 14,000 current and former ADF personnel in Townsville. And so they will understand the significance of making sure that we continue to upgrade capability based in Townsville as well as the flow on benefit to the entire economy of making those investments that you talk about.

CLARKE: The RAAF base work, that's going to take around about 2028 or so, that's going to be completed. Is that your expectation?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yes, it'll be completed around 2028, but of course that work starts soon. It takes time, obviously, to roll out that work, but it means you've got money flowing into the economy with that infrastructure upgrade through that period.

CLARKE: We know too that veterans do struggle sometimes and they need assistance in the community when they've stepped away from their role in Defence. What services have been announced in this Budget for them?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, another great example there, of course, is that the Veterans Access Network office, run by DVA in Townsville, is our largest Office. There's some 14 staff there, as well as having a very significant Open Arms presence, which is the counselling service for veterans and family members. And that actually employs a lot of spouses of people that are currently serving and veterans as well. The investments we've made in this year's Budget are all about making sure that we are able to continue to provide the increased level of service that we've been providing to our veterans community. People remember when we were elected just a few years ago, there was a backlog of some 42,000 DVA claims that hadn't even been looked at by someone in DVA. And we have increased the staffing in DVA now by some 640 people. Over 500 of those have gone directly into that claims processing area to get through that backlog. We've eradicated that backlog. That's incredibly important. But of course we also need to make sure that we're able to continue to provide that enhanced level of service as we see the number of claims growing. And so now claims that are being lodged with DVA are being looked at within a couple of weeks and claims on average are being processed within just a few months. What's really disappointing is that we've seen the Opposition say that they want to cut back on those additional staff. In fact, just earlier in the week, the Shadow Finance Minister, the Liberal Senator Jane Hume, was saying, oh well, they would want to roll back those additional staff for DVA because they didn't think they would be necessary anymore. So, what we've seen from the Opposition is that, you know, they say that they are going to be cutting everything, and when it comes to public services, they've specifically singled out DVA just this week. The one thing they're not cutting though is your taxes.

CLARKE: Minister. We've had the Budget handed down. Are you expecting now an election to be called this weekend? What are you expecting the Prime Minister to do?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, that is in the hands of the Prime Minister as to when he calls the election. We all know the election will be in May sometime. But you know what we have been focused on as a government, the election's not yet called and it's been really important for everyone across the country that we understand and recognise that people are still experiencing cost of living pressure. We've seen inflation fall, we've seen interest rates start to fall, we've still got amazingly low unemployment, we've got wages that are growing. But focusing on those cost of living pressures with things like the energy bill credit, the tax cuts, cheaper medicine, cheaper childcare and making childcare more available with the three day guarantee, are all about making sure that we're looking after those cost of living pressures as best we can while still making sure we maintain responsible Budget management. And across our term of government we've shaved over $200 billion off the deficits that the previous government had been projecting. So, we've actually put the Budget into an overall much better position over our term of government as well.

CLARKE: We'll leave it there, but we appreciate your time this morning.

MINISTER KEOGH: It's been great to be with you, Michael.

CLARKE: That is Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel talking after last night's Budget.

END

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608