Federal election 2025: Coalition promises no cuts to Veterans’ department amid questions about policy

The Coalition says it will make “no cuts” to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs under its plan to slash 41,000 public servants from Canberra, as questions swirl about the policy a week out from the election.

Shadow veterans affairs minister Barnaby Joyce made the commitment on Anzac Day as he admitted mistakes had been made in the past, including a lack of staff in the department.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Thursday confirmed from Hobart all 41,000 public servants to be cut over the next five years would come from Canberra, where about 69,000 of the country’s bureaucrats are based.

Around half of the APS staff in Canberra work in frontline or national security roles, meaning the Coalition would need to cut some of these workers to carry out its plan.

Of the 4000 national DVA staff, about 750 are based in Canberra.

The Coalition has said there will be no forced redundancies and would look instead at natural attrition.

Mr Joyce said they would look for people approaching retirement.

“Quite obviously, (if) the …reduction in their frontline service means harm to somebody else, then it doesn’t pass the test, does it?” he told ABC Radio.

Mr Joyce said he wouldn’t make excuses for the way the previous Coalition Government had understaffed the DVA and the cultural issues — both probed by the Royal Commission into defence and veterans’ suicides — but didn’t want to get into a debate about it on Anzac Day.

“I’m not going to start making excuses, nor… participate in a parochial debate on Anzac Day,” he said.

“I’m quite happy to have it on another day, but let’s just go with the process of if you make a mistake, you fix it up. And we have offered bipartisan support in making sure that this issue is fixed up.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh meanwhile said he was “absolutely” confident that the ADF and Veterans Affairs department are capable of the significant cultural reform required in the wake of the Royal Commission into defence and veterans’ suicides.

“There is certainly more to do,” he told ABC Radio.