COWPER MP Pat Conaghan has called on the Albanese Government to immediately reinstate funding for critical programs aimed at veteran wellbeing on the Mid North Coast.

In the 2022/23 Federal Budget the Coalition guaranteed $5 million funding for the Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing Network.

Continued funding was also promised for programs like Soldier On Australia’s Pathways program.

Following the election of the Labor government in the 2022 election, funding for the Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing Network was reallocated.

Last month, funding for the Soldier On program was discontinued.

Soldier On Programs Officer Jody Geostis called Mr Conaghan to advise him that she had been made redundant and that the local program would be discontinued.

“You may have noticed the activities in the area have reduced recently,” Jody stated to her followers in a Facebook post on May 31.

“This has been due to Soldier On not being able to secure further funding to support the Pathways Program which was previously assisted by DVA.

“The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Matt Keogh, advised that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Enhanced Employment Support for Veterans grant program, which assists the Pathways Program, has not been renewed as part of the new Federal Budget.

“This grant program has been a primary source of funding for the Pathways Program, totalling $6 million over four years ($1.5 million per year).

“RSL Australia also received funding under the same DVA grant previously.

They, along with us, have been advised that there is no identified alternative Government funding stream available.”

Mr Conaghan, who has been continuously vocal regarding the reallocation of veteran wellbeing funding, said to describe the situation as “disappointing” would be “an understatement”.

“I appreciate that decisions around funding allocations are nuanced, but this decision to cease funding for the Soldier On program is a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of those men and women who have fought for this country.

“As soon as Jody called me, I wrote to the Minister to call for the funds being reinstated.

“Additionally, the Hub and Spoke model of Wellbeing Centre that was presented by the Mid North Coast Veterans Wellbeing Network to the Coalition and subsequently approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs represented better value for tax-payer money than the single centralised centres.

“Despite this, the centralised centres, which are conspicuously in Labor seats, received support in the October budget and the recent budget has not awarded any new funding to the Mid North Coast at all,” Mr Conaghan said.

“The Mid North Coast as a region has one of the highest Veteran numbers in the country, yet has not been awarded a single dollar under the updated scheme.

This just isn’t good enough, and I am continuing to fight to ensure that the funds are returned.”

A spokesperson for the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Matt Keogh, said Soldier On was provided a one-off $6 million grant in 2019 to support the expansion of a specific employment program for four years, ending on 30 June 2023.

“At the 2022 election, Labor committed to a $24 million Veteran Employment Program and this was funded in the October 2022-23 Budget,” the spokesperson said.

“The Veteran Employment Program will build on existing initiatives to raise awareness, highlight the benefits of employing veterans and veteran families, provide support to businesses to attract, recruit and retain veterans, and provide support to translate veterans’ military skills and experience for the civilian workforce.

“The Government acknowledges the experience and expertise that Soldier On has gleaned over more than a decade and will continue to work with Soldier On to support veteran employment.”