"Bring back free flights for troops says mum of special forces soldier."

Yet another example of the Gillard government tightening the screws on an already hard-pressed country.

Suzette Halliwell is a member of a large and mostly silent army of parents with children serving in the defence force and she is as mad as hell.
Her son, 31, is single and lives well away from his tight-knit family who reside on Sydney's north shore.
Up until the last federal Budget in May, he was entitled to one flight home every year to visit his family.
Under government budget cuts and to help keep the budget in surplus the free flights were cancelled from July 1 for any single defence member over 21. It affects about 22,000 people and will save the government $15 million.

This time it's the singles in the Australian army being made to foot the bill to simply visit their family once a year. But then, we see this:

Ms Halliwell said the government was spending $1 billion in Afghanistan over four years to promote education and health, but was happy to take away $15 million worth of soldiers' travel that would undermine the health of Australian families.

Source.< br />
Unfortunately this particular article does not go into the fact that the Army chiefs, along with our politicians not only get taxpayer funded trips across both the country and the world, but get free limousines, chauffers and pretty much every luxury under the sun, while our diggers and their families have to spring for their own plane fare each time just to get home to see their loved ones. Regardless of how you feel about our soldiers, this is just an insult to the men and women who serve and protect our country. Many of the bases in Australia are miles from anywhere, and the government is basing the fact that travel between remote centres and capitals is too expensive. But $15 million a year? They spend much more than this on pointless, frivolous things.
And frankly, it's disgusting.

There are no words.......