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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-06-03 Daily Xml
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Veterans' Stamp Duty Concessions

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:47): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Veterans' Affairs a question relating to stamp duty concessions for returned servicemen and servicewomen.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: After World War II the state government of the time legislated a scheme whereby veterans could gain access to stamp duty concessions, which would enjoy our full support if it was followed through.

Initially the stamp duty concessions entitled veterans to a maximum of £66, which by way of comparison would be worth somewhere in the vicinity of $4,380 in today's money. Unfortunately for veterans, however, the current system by which returned servicemen or servicewomen can apply for stamp duty concessions has not been indexed since way back in 1945. In practical terms this means that instead of receiving a concession of $4,380 our veterans are given a mere pittance of approximately $132 in today's terms towards stamp duty, that is, some $4,248 less than what they are arguably due.

Adding further to this less than satisfactory treatment of veterans is the revelation that proclamations in the Government Gazette have excluded from this scheme veterans who have served in conflict since Vietnam, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. My questions to the minister are:

1. Why has the government not indexed stamp duty concessions for veterans since 1945?

2. How many veterans have accessed this scheme in the last five years?

3. Why are veterans who have served since Vietnam in places such as Afghanistan or Iraq specifically excluded from the scheme?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his most important question to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs in the other place. I undertake to take that question to him and seek a response. However, in doing so, we need to remind ourselves that it was the federal Liberal government that ripped $30 million out of the state's concession payments—$30 million.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The Hon. Michelle Lensink is laughing now, Mr President—$30 million out of the pockets of pensioners. They think it is a joke: we do not. The federal Liberal government wants to rip $30 million out of pensioners' pockets, out of concessions they have had for years, and they laugh about it. Of course, it is the federal Liberal government that no longer will index pensions to the average weekly earnings. They are going to take out of the concession payments and also stop the growth of the pensions. It is the federal Liberal government that is ripping into pensioners and concessions and they deserve to be condemned by all of us.

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