Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

(Hughes) (18:55): I am pleased to rise to speak on this important motion. I enter this debate in a unique position as someone in this parliament who, alongside fellow carers across the country, watches with interest the announcements about changes to the disability sector, knowing full well that the current patchwork state and federal system of disability support is inadequate.

The Productivity Commission's report into disability care and support has reinforced what people who live with disabilities and their carers have long known, which is that the current system is broken and needs a full overhaul. For a parent caring for a physically or intellectually disabled child, it is a lifetime's task and, with such poor assistance available, they have little choice but to abandon any hope or thought of a career in order to take up life as the family carer, which is often lonely, arduous and poorly compensated. For carers there are no sick days, there is no holiday pay and there is no superannuation. A parent caring for a physically or intellectually disabled child lives with the fear and stress of what will happen to their child when they are too old or too frail to care for them anymore. This is a story that I have heard and felt countless times from devoted carers, and it is also a fear that I myself have personally felt. The time and emotional energy involved in caring can significantly influence the dynamics within a family, and so it is little surprise that when parents have a disabled child the chance of marriage breakdown almost doubles.

We are a wealthy and compassionate nation. The time has come when, as a society, we must find ways to provide a generous and practical response to properly assist those with severe disabilities and their carers. While the blame game is not as evident in disability support as it is in other aspects of our health system, the responsibility for disability support is fractured across federal and state jurisdictions and that has lent itself towards needing closer examination for some time. Currently, the federal government has responsibility for specialised employment assistance and income support, while state and territory governments are primarily responsible for accommodation support, community support and access to respite services.

In its draft report on disability care and support, the Productivity Commission reinforced the coalition's long-held position that disability support is a core government responsibility and must be treated as such. In response to the release of the report's recommendations, Carers Australia President Tim Moore described feelings of 'great hope' and that 'Australia would at last introduce a scheme that would provide quality care and support to all people with a significant disability'. Indeed, that is the hope of all Australians. But, as always, the devil will be in the detail.

It is important that the legislation surrounding this reform is focused on three core deficits in the current system. They are: community and workforce participation and assistance; increased support for those with disability and their carers; and a simpler support system and advocacy support to help people navigate the bureaucratic maze. A national disability insurance scheme must be the goal of this parliament to work towards, but we must get there sooner rather than later. Talk of it being introduced nationally in seven years should be unacceptable to everyone. The Second World War was fought and won in less time.

In quantifying the unmet need for care and support for Australians with disabilities, the Productivity Commission has established the figure that it will take to provide the sort of care and support that rightfully should be expected of Australians who suffer with severe disabilities and their carers. The Productivity Commission prices the scheme at $6.5 billion, which is no small cost, but it is one that should be, and indeed must be, achievable under a responsible government. It is a national disgrace that the equivalent of the full cost of financing this important scheme will now have to be paid out in the annual interest payments on the debt this Labor government has racked up in just four years. To be able to afford the cost of providing the resources that those with disabilities and their carers need and deserve we must have the economy firing on all cylinders. We must end the waste, we must end the mismanagement and we must end the indulgent schemes. Support for disabilities is not welfare. It should not be. It is an entitlement to assistance and participation in our community.

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