WITH the Mid North Coast, including the electorate of Cowper, having been overlooked in the recent allocation of funding for Veteran Wellbeing Services in NSW, Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan has called on the Federal Government to overturn the decision.

Mr Conaghan said the Federal electorates in the state left out from funding allocations are all National Party seats – Cowper, Page, New England and Lyne.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

This is despite the Mid North Coast being home to one of the largest cohorts of returned servicemen in the country.

In April 2022, a $5 million commitment from the former Coalition Government was announced, with funds to be allocated from the existing Federal 2022 budget.

Labor has now overturned this decision since being elected, reallocating funds to new Veterans Hubs elsewhere.

Mr Congaghan is calling on the Government to reconsider its recent decision.

“To hear the news that the entire Mid North Coast has been left out of the recent funding decision is gut wrenching.

“How a region such as ours, boasting some of the highest numbers of Vets in the country has been overlooked is beyond comprehension.

“The work that our local veterans and I had done together would have seen a hub and spoke model service the whole of the electorate, not just one location.

“We know from experience that it is vital that this model is adopted to ensure that all our veterans receive the attention and care they deserve.

“I sincerely hope this is not an indication of things to come for our community from the new Government, and that we can have this funding returned,” Mr Conaghan said.

“I am calling on the newly appointed Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, Matt Keogh, to reconsider his decision and show a true bi-partisan approach to the support of those men and women who have served this country.

“$5 million dollars to support the wellbeing of Veterans and their families for many years to come does not seem like a big ask.”

Vice President of the Mid North Coast Veterans Wellbeing Network, Justin Poppleton, has been advocating for the needs of Veterans from Grafton to Taree and was integral in the creation of the Veteran’s Wellbeing Centre proposal for the region.

“We’ve been following the philosophy of a bottom-up approach, really listening to the feedback and needs of the local Veteran community and providing them with tangible advocacy.

“We know that travel and distance are so often deterrents when it comes to accessing appropriate services, and our model looks to address that by providing multiple locations within a hub and spoke network, rather than just the one centre.

“We currently have nineteen advocates already providing services to those in need across the Mid North Coast, and we are working to the best of our capacity but we are stretched without the resources to appropriately support and connect our considerable Veterans community,” Mr Poppleton said.

“To know that we have one of the largest Veteran populations in the country but haven’t made the updated list for a physical centre is disappointing.

“Our community was originally promised the $5 million from the Department of Veteran Affairs based on our Veteran numbers, so to have this now taken away doesn’t seem to uphold the aim of delivering a better future for everyone in the veteran community.”

Matt Keogh, Minister for Veteran’s Affairs and Defence Personnel told News Of The Area, “The Australian Government is committed to delivering a package of practical support measures that will improve the welfare and wellbeing of veterans and families, building on the services currently available.

“That is why during the election, one of our key commitments was the expansion of the Veterans’ and Families’ Hub network across the country.

“In fact, we’re more than doubling the size of the existing network.”

Mr Keogh said the newly formed Australian Government had not ‘removed funding’ from any Veterans Hubs, insisting the announcements of locations by the Coalition in the election campaign were not linked to any funding in the Budget.

“We have committed $42.9 million to develop ten new Veterans and Families Hubs across Australia in areas with significant defence and veteran communities, supported by the statistics we’ve seen in the recent census.

“This significant investment will see new Hubs in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

“The ten new Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs are being delivered in both Labor and Coalition electorates.

“This investment will complement the six hubs previously established, which are currently delivering support to veterans and families in Perth, Townsville, Adelaide, Nowra, Wodonga and Darwin.”

The Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing Network first started providing advocacy services in 2011, at that time just to the Coffs Harbour region.

Since then, eleven different ex-service organisations have now joined forces to create a more wholistic approach for the broader Mid North Coast.