Mr BEAZLEY —My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel. Last year the minister told the RSL National Congress that the government would honour its pre-election promise to award the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 to all defence and former defence personnel who served in that period. Why has the government reneged on the promise to make that award?

Mrs BISHOP —It is true that, before the election, there were statements made about the awarding of the ASM 1945-75 to people who served in the Korean War, the Malayan emergency and the Indonesian confrontation. I said at the conference that was mentioned by the Leader of the Opposition that we were honouring our promises. I also pointed out that, as the proposal was to award the ASM to people for active service as distinct from non-active service, or non-warlike service, there was a required change by Her Majesty the Queen to the regulations to allow the ASM to be awarded for active service. I then instigated the process to obtain that concurrence.

In the course of that, discussion arose as to the question of double medalling, and it was indeed then discovered that those people had been awarded an Imperial Medal at the behest of the Australian government, and therefore it was an Australian medal rendered in respect of that active service given in Korea, in the Malayan emergency and in the Indonesian confrontation. Accordingly, the government made a decision that that would represent double medalling and that that would not be done.

The government gave the reason that it was important to protect the integrity of the medal already given and therefore the decision was made. However, all the other medals as promised regarding the lessening of time for the receipt of the ASM 1939-45—down from 180 days to 30 days; the awarding of the ASM 1945-75 in respect of the Far East Strategic Reserve, in respect of Papua New Guinea, in respect of BCOF—the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan—and in respect of the Berlin airlift, were all honoured and have been awarded.

There was some publicity in the press that said that those medals would be affected. In fact, they will not. I repeat: the reason that the government made the decision arose from the process that I had instigated to obtain Her Majesty's concurrence, and it was then that the discussion on double medalling arose and the government took its decision that no double medalling would be made.