Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I indicate at the outset that the coalition supports the amendments. I thank the minister at the table, the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform, for facilitating a briefing for me and Senator Fifield on the detail of the amendments. It was held this week. It gave us the opportunity to look at the detail of those amendments. They are, for all intents and purposes, sensible amendments which should be made, and this House should be supporting them. That is why we will support them today.

We envisage that there may be further amendments as a result of further inquiries into the NDIS, and that is to be expected because this is very much a work in progress. The NDIS will not be fulfilled in the way that everybody aspires to for many years. That is going to take a considerable amount of work and cooperation not only here at the Commonwealth level but between the Commonwealth and the states and territories over what may be the next two or three terms of this parliament. Such a monumental change as this one, I believe, signals something about the approach of all us in this place to an issue whose time has come, in terms of ensuring that there is the best treatment that we can possibly put in place and afford for people who have disabilities, particularly those with profound disabilities, in Australia.

Question agreed to.

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