E&OE...
Thank you very much. Major General Bill Crews, and I congratulate you Bill on your re-election as national president of the RSL, you've done a great job representing this magnificent Australian organisation. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kevin Rudd, Bruce Billson, the Minister for Veterans Affairs, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to have the opportunity again of briefly addressing this dinner of the national congress of the RSL to pay tribute to the way in which the league continues to represent the interests of returned men and women in this country, the way in which the league advocates persistently for their welfare and also the extraordinary interest that the league takes in affairs that are important not only to the welfare of veterans but also to the long term security and defence needs of this nation. And before saying a few words about some particular benefits that the Government has decided to revise, I do want to just take a moment of your time to say something of the incredible contribution that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force are making in various theatres around the world.
One of the great privileges that comes the way of a Prime Minister of this great country of ours is the opportunity to visit the men and women of our defence forces in their various locations of duty. And this year I've had the chance to visit our forces in Iraq, in Afghanistan and very recently in East Timor and I'm always humbled, and there's no better way of describing it, by the remarkable sense of dedication of compassion and humanity and also, of course, that endearing and enduring Australian sense of humour. Better than I believe the forces of any nation, and apologies to our visitors, we mean no offence, can I say Australians combine a fierce capacity to fight when that is needed with a great ability to work with a local population in a country where they may be on active service. And I've not forgotten the experience I had in Afghanistan earlier this year where not only did I learn about what our forces were doing militarily but I was also shown their wonderful work in teaching the local population the rudiments of the electricity trade and developing through that activity a wonderful bond with the local population. We as a nation should be proud of our modern diggers. We should be proud of the work they've done, we should admire their service and I know all in this room will do that. It's been a very strong commitment of my Government, I'm very proud that in the time I've been Prime Minister expenditure on defence in this country has risen by no less than 47 per cent in real terms, that's after allowing for inflation, over and above inflation, and we remain committed to regular increases in defence expenditure of at least three per cent a year through to 2016.
I'm also happy to report that we have made a very good start in raising the two new battalions for the Australian Army that I announced some months ago. And notwithstanding the fact that we are living in a time of record, well not record low unemployment but the lowest for the past 33 years, notwithstanding that because of a revision upwards in the benefits and conditions of employment of our service people we are doing very well in recent months on the recruiting front. And the recent innovation of the introduction of a gap year allowing young Australians to sample for a year as far as possible on the same terms and conditions of the full time regular services what service life is like with the hope that they might through that decide to make a longer term commitment, the early indications are that that innovation has been a remarkable success and it will make a very important contribution to recruitment. I think you will be aware of a number of the changes that this government has made in recent years, the extension of the gold card eligibility, the enhancements of that were announced by Bruce Billson at your congress in Perth some two years ago. I announced recently the world first study into the intergenerational affects of war service, particularly Vietnam, hoping to learn from the experiences of more than 200,000 parents and children, and in the last Budget we provided $50 and $25 a fortnight increases in the special and intermediate rate pensions respectively from July 2007.
But there are a couple of other announcements I want to make tonight. I want to assure you that the Government will continue to maintain to the fullest extent a separate, independent Department of Veterans' Affairs. We regard that as indispensable to providing the services that veterans are legitimately and properly entitled and the Veterans' Affairs network offices will continue to operate across Australia. Can I also announce that with effect from March of 2008 all Veterans' Affairs disability pensions will be indexed with reference to both consumer price index and male total average weekly earnings and this enhancement will benefit some 140,000 disability pensioners including those on the special rate, intermediate rate and extreme disablement adjustment. We also intend with effect from the same date a $15 fortnightly increase to the more than 13,500 veterans who receive the above general rate of the extreme disablement adjustment and that will maintain the equity of the EDA payment with other above general rate payments that were increased in the Budget. And also the Government will increase by 5 per cent the entire general rate table for non economic loss compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of function resulting from an accepted service-related condition with effect from March 2008 and that will deliver above and 100 per cent general rate recipients, including EDA veterans, a fortnightly boost of $20 from March 2008, adjusted by the more beneficial indexation method. The initiatives announced tonight involve an additional expenditure of some $330 million from March 2008 through to June 2012. They represent a further earnest of the Government's ongoing commitment to the proper support and care of veterans in the Australian community. Could I also indicate that my Minister, Bruce Billson, about whom I will say something in a moment, will be addressing the annual congress of the Australian War Widows Guild in a fortnight's time and at that meeting he will be saying something about benefits for Australian war widows.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is important that the veterans' community have ongoing, intensive contact with the Commonwealth Government. I'm always as Prime Minister available, ready and keen to maintain that direct contact with your president and I've had the opportunity in recent years of having a number of gatherings with your president and the state presidents of the various braches of the RSL throughout Australia but on a more regular basis the commitment of the Veterans' Affairs Minister is very important to the links between your organisation and the Government of the Commonwealth. I want to thank Bruce as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs in recent times, I want to thank him for his industry, his energy and his indefatigable commitment to the cause of veterans in Australia. I can assure you that your organisation has no keener advocate or supporter within the councils of the Government than it has in Bruce Billson and I warmly record my thanks to him.
My friends, let me conclude by placing on record my immense admiration through all of you to the men and women of Australia who in so many cases, far too many cases, laid down their lives to defend this country and to give us the wonderful life that we now have. Those generations of Australians who benefited from their sacrifice can never repay the debt that they owe them and to you who continue to represent their cause in a general way and act as a great organisation, not only concerned about the welfare of your members and properly so, but also concerned to ensure that fairness and justice prevails for people who've served this country. And also I want to thank you for the warm interest you continue to take in matters relating to national security and defence. The first obligation of any government is the defence of this nation. The armed forces of this country have been required to carry heavy burdens in recent years and as a result we have significantly increased our provision for defence and are continuing to build up our armed forces. And that is properly so because the world in which we live is challenging. The security we have is precious, but it's a security that can never be taken for granted. You meet, of course, on the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York and Washington in 2001. The enemy we confront in the war on terror is a different enemy from the enemy that you in this room fought against in World War II or in Korea or Vietnam or in the Middle East or elsewhere. That was a vicious enemy, a dangerous enemy and an enemy that was ultimately overcome. Terrorism represents a different kind of threat. You don't have declarations of war, you don't have armies rolling across borders as used to be the case but you nonetheless face and we all face an insidious threat from terrorism and it's a struggle which is designed to destroy the values, the threat of terrorism is designed to destroy the values that all of us hold so dear. And the struggle in which our forces are engaged in different parts of the world, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and other places against terrorism is a struggle that is important and just as crucial to our future as other struggles have been
My friends, thank you for the honour of asking me to come to your national congress. I wish the league well, I thank all of you for your contribution to Australia and the wonderful contribution the league makes in representing the cause of the returned men and women of our nation. Thank you.
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