Senator RONALDSON (Victoria—Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC and Special Minister of State) (14:26): I would like to welcome the question from Senator Farrell, because I think it is now some 120 days since he has asked me a question. It is a good day; I am very pleased to get the question. I thought, quite frankly, when Senator Farrell got to his feet that he actually might be rising to congratulate the government on delivering on its DFRB/DFRDB indexation promise, which was delivered today. Senator Farrell: Mr President, on a point of order on relevance: we are talking about the potential closure of Veteran's Access Networks, not pensions. The PRESIDENT: I draw the minister's attention to the question. You have got one minute 29 seconds remaining. Minister. Senator RONALDSON: Thank you, Mr President, I was just getting to the question but I thought it might be of interest to the house that this promise has been met. An opposition senator interjecting— Senator RONALDSON: Thank you very much. Can I just make it quite clear: this government is committed to a stand-alone department of veterans' affairs, but what Senator Farrell clearly does not understand, which is not surprising because he represents a party that did not even have a veterans' affairs policy before the last election. That is— Senator Moore: Mr President, a follow-up point of order on relevance: the minister has now had more than half of his time, and we have yet to get to the particular question about the shopfront offices and services. The PRESIDENT: At the one-minute-29 mark, I drew the minister's attention to the question. I do so again at the 58-second mark. Minister. Senator RONALDSON: Thank you very much, Mr President. As I was saying, more and more veterans and their families are choosing the telephone or the internet to deal with the DVA. Senator Farrell should be aware of that and, indeed, visits to our shopfronts are down 28 per cent, since 2009. The nature of this department is changing, because we have a new cohort of veterans—some 72,500 veterans—who have served overseas in the last 20 years. We are indeed reviewing the— (Time expired)