Tolley AnneJAMIE STRANGE (Labour): Madam Speaker thank you for the opportunity to take a call on this the Veterans' Support Amendment Bill. I'd also like to begin by acknowledging—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Oh sorry. This is a split call.JAMIE STRANGE: Thank you. I'd also like to begin by acknowledging the honourable Minister Ron Mark. His passion for veterans is absolutely commendable. I know that the Minister has served our country and as I travel the country I constantly hear people speak highly of the Minister because he is able to relate on a personal level with this portfolio. I'd also like to join the chorus of those who have honoured those who have served our country. From a personal point of view my father-in-law served in Borneo Malaya and Vietnam. I'd like to particularly spotlight those who served in Vietnam because as some people will know when they returned from service they returned under a cover of darkness. They did not receive thanks at the time for the service that they'd undertaken. They were not honoured at the time and it was very difficult for those soldiers.War is confusing at the best of times but the Vietnam War was certainly very confusing for many people. Consequently in the early 2000s the Government did right that wrong and acknowledge them. But I'd like to particularly acknowledge my father-in-law who served in Vietnam. My great uncle lost an arm in World War II. He was captured by the Germans and he was repatriated. We don't really know exactly the details around that but for some reason he was repatriated probably to do with him losing his arm. Now this bill has been well canvassed around what it does. It simply fixes a clerical error to ensure that those who are entitled to the various benefits receive those and basically it gives the Minister the ability to ensure that those qualified under operational service—that people receive the entitlements that they're entitled to allowing the Minister to make retrospective declarations.There are a number of health issues and challenges that our veterans have who have served. For those like myself who have never served in a war I will simply not know what that's like for those who have served. It's up to us to certainly honour them but also to provide that support because there are not many more challenging things that people have to do than serve in a war. It's important we don't take our peace for granted. I was recently talking to some Europeans around the issue of Brexit and they said the key thing for them was peace. We always strive as a country for peace and we certainly strive as a global community for peace but at times we do need to stand up for things that we hold dear in terms of our freedoms and we certainly do that.I'd also like to acknowledge Melissa Lee and I know she's been acknowledged before but from a personal point of view I remember sharing some time with you in Hamilton recently with the Korean community where they honoured the Korean veterans and I think the Hon Tim Macindoe might've been there as well. The Korean community absolutely do a wonderful job of honouring those who have served us and I'd also like to acknowledge them around that.We have Anzac ceremonies which are certainly well attended. As we go to these ceremonies we notice that those who fought in World War II their numbers are becoming less and less but it's important that we constantly remember those people who have served whether they're family members like mine or whether they're people who we know of—you know we know their stories. I think that generally we do that well as a country and this is just another example of us doing that well of us recognising that look there's been a clerical error here. The intentions were good the error has been fixed and there's cross-party support.So I'm hopeful tonight that all those veterans who are watching on TV or listening on the radio do feel supported because as a Parliament as a whole we certainly honour you we thank you and we show you our support tonight. I commend this bill to the House.