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Despite some signs of ANZAC fatigue before the recent Gallipoli landing commemorations, the federal government has added ten new events to the packed schedule of the centenary period.
The budget papers show an extra $35.5 million has been added to the total cost of commemorations to cover new events and a higher than anticipated security bill stemming from events like the Gallipoli dawn service.
The overall budget for commemorations across a 10-year period has risen to $285.5 million.
Veterans' Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson has approved funding for the new events to be added to the program, including the 75th anniversary of the siege of Tobruk, the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan on Vietnam Veteran's Day, the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore and the 100th anniversary of the Armistice in World War One.
The additional funding will pay for commemorative events at Lone Pine at Gallipoli; Fromelles, Pozieres and Le Hamel in France; Polygon Wood in Belgium; and Beersheba in Israel.
The additional $35.5 million will be spent between now and the 2018/19 financial year.
In a post-budget briefing to RSL state branches by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, passed to Fairfax Media, veterans have been assured that the extra spend on commemorations does not compromise any of the $12.1 billion to be spent on income support, compensation and health services in 2015/16.
The RSL and other veterans' groups welcomed confirmation in the budget that the government has dropped plans to index veterans' pensions and war widows' pensions at the lower rate of inflation rather than average weekly wages.
Fairfax Media revealed last month that veteran's groups had formed a united front and were lobbying hard behind the scenes for a reversal of the indexation decision in last year's budget.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with RSL president Rear Admiral Ken Doolan earlier this year but indicated the government would not back down.
The situation had been inflamed by the government's decision to honour an election promise to index payments to military superannuants at the higher rate of wages, saying it a matter of "fairness".
The Federation of Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Ex-Servicemen and Women welcomed the change of heart.
TPI national vice president Pat McCabe said: "We are extremely pleased at the government's response to our submissions. There had been quite an avalanche of disappointment at the previous policy."
