Minister for Veterans' Affairs Bruce Billson has welcomed unanimous House of Representatives support for bills designed to provide free comprehensive health cover for the participants in British nuclear tests in Australia who have cancer or want to be screened for it. Mr Billson is urging his Senate colleagues to also endorse these bills in a timely manner so that the opportunity for our nuclear test participants to access this healthcare can be enshrined in legislation. "I am optimistic that my Senate colleagues will also act positively and decisively to help ensure these important healthcare measures do not encounter any unnecessary delays," he said.

Mr Billson said the health support package was part of the Australian Government's positive response to the findings of the world-class study - Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests in Australia - Mortality and Cancer Incidence, and Dosimetry, 2006. The study was undertaken by the University of Adelaide in association with a panel of specialists in areas such as radiation physics and epidemiology. The study took more than three years to complete and was internationally peer reviewed.

"This was a significant body of work by international standards and while the study found that the rate of some cancers among nuclear test participants was higher than among the general population, it did not find any link between these increases and exposure to radiation," Mr Billson said. "Despite this, the Australian Government decided that it was appropriate to provide nuclear test participants with free, non-liability health cover, including screening for all forms of cancer, regardless of cause," he said.

"I have long been a strong, pro-active and positive advocate for our veterans when it comes to ensuring they have the levels of care they so richly deserve. This is demonstrated by my submission to the Clarke Review into Veterans' Entitlements back in 2002. In my submission I advocated for additional support for constituents in my electorate of Dunkley who had participated in the British nuclear tests," Mr Billson said. "The Government's response to the Clarke Review was to instigate the comprehensive study into mortality and cancer incidence and provide an undertaking to respond positively to the study's findings.

"Last week the shadow spokesman for Veterans' Affairs Alan Griffin suggested my submission to the Clarke Review was somehow at odds with my commitment to our veterans and the Australian Government's positive response to the mortality and cancer incidence study. "I find it rather odd that he would question my long track record of advocating on behalf of veterans, considering he did not even bother to make a submission to the Clarke Review. But he's not on his own, as the record shows that not one single current serving Labor member or Senator bothered either," Mr Billson said.