Hopes have been dashed yet again that veterans exposed to radiation on islands off northern Western Australia more than 60 years ago will ever be eligible to access the health benefits of the Gold Card.
WA Labor MP Reece Whitby made a grievance in state parliament on Thursday on behalf of the Australian Ex-Services Atomic Survivors Association, seeking the inclusion of a group of veterans exposed to radiation on or near the Montebello Islands after Britain completed nuclear weapons testing in 1956.
But a spokeswoman for Veterans' Affairs Minister Darren Chester said on Friday that former Australian Defence Force members were already covered under a 1988 Act and eligibility dates for a Gold Card were determined on the basis of "scientific evidence".
