Across Mallee, there is a deep respect for those who have worn our nation’s uniform – a respect etched into the cenotaphs, honour boards and memorials that stand in towns large and small throughout the region. Names carved in stone remind us, and future generations, that freedom comes at a cost paid by real people, real families and real communities.

That is why so many veterans and their families have contacted me about the Albanese Labor Government’s decision to impose a $5,000 annual cap on veterans’ allied health services from July 2027. Never before has a price cap been put on the care our veterans deserve.

The services affected include psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, exercise physiology, podiatry, dietetics and social work. These are not luxuries. They are essential supports for veterans living with the physical and psychological consequences of service, also noting some group sessions support veterans’ collective mental health.

I spoke with a veteran and his wife in my electorate office recently. Many years after being called up to serve as a 20-year-old in Vietnam, their trauma remains.

As I said recently in Parliament, we cannot honour service at a memorial and then ration care for veterans.  A veteran living with PTSD and a serious service-related physical injury should never have to wonder: do I see my psychologist or my physiotherapist? Instead of supporting integrated healthcare, Labor demands care rationing.

A Mallee resident in her nineties shared her dismay at Labor’s mean-spirited proposal, asking – as the Vietnam veteran I mentioned earlier also asked – are Labor trying to discourage young Australians from enlisting to serve? Support services are a national obligation to our veterans.

Whether they served in Vietnam, Afghanistan, peacekeeping operations or elsewhere, veterans deserve confidence they will get the care they need.

This travesty is an indictment on the Veterans’ Affairs Minister and Albanese Labor Government. The ministerial portfolio should support its veterans. Right now, it does not. Labor is taking away support from those that served, those that were called up, who have given so much, and have a genuine love, care and compassion for Australia.