Hawke Labor gave up the repatriation hospitals. What happened to the promise?

Dear Editor,

Hawke Labor set in motion the dismantling of Australia’s Repatriation hospital network, replacing direct Commonwealth ownership with State arrangements, private contracts and purchasing power.

Veterans were promised priority access and high-quality care would survive the change.

More than 30 years later, we should ask what happened to that promise.

What protections were written into each deal? Which survived? Which expired? And what has been lost along the way?

Repatriation reform should start with an audit of those bargains, hospital by hospital.

Selling the hospitals was one thing. Selling away the promise was never supposed to be part of the deal.

I expand on this at markcroxford.net/read

Mark Croxford
Founder, Veterans Count
20-year Navy veteran, and
former media and political adviser to a Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel

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