Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel, Darren Chester will visit the Townsville community in the lead-up to Anzac Day, accepting an invitation from the Member for Herbert, Phil Thompson.
Mr Chester said he looked forward to returning to Townsville on April 22 to meet with Australian Defence Force personnel, veterans and their families.
“Travel restrictions over the last 12 months have made it difficult to meet face to face, but local MP Phil Thompson has been in constant contact with me on a wide range of defence and veterans’ issues important to the community in Australia’s largest garrison city,” Mr Chester said.
“I would like to thank Mr Thompson for the invitation and look forward to hearing directly again from people in the serving and ex-serving community about what we are doing right and where we could be doing more.”
Mr Thompson said a range of changes had been implemented to benefit the serving and ex-serving community and the visit would provide a great opportunity to give an update on this work.
“Minister Chester will also meet with some of the veterans that I have spoken with to ensure he is hearing from the people on the ground about further improvements that can be made for our veterans and our families,” Mr Thompson said.
Townsville is home to around 11,400 ADF personnel and their families, and more than 8,600 veterans and their families.
