Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the DisabilityCare Australia Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2013. Depending on life's chances, any one of us can be born with or acquire a disability or permanent disability that significantly reduces our capacity to independently care for ourselves. On average, every 30 minutes someone in Australia is diagnosed with a significant disability. The services available to people should not be determined on the basis of how they acquired their disability; it should be determined on the basis of the services they need.

The fundamental principle behind DisabilityCare Australia is that the focus is placed on the person with the disability—what they can do. If a person has a permanent disability that reduces their capacity to function, it is likely that they will get support under the scheme. This support could include an individual plan, with access to education or community groups that meet their needs. There are numerous people in my own electorate who have lobbied me in this area, and now I say to them: I have heard you loud and clear, and I am really proud to represent the community and to represent a Labor government who has really spoken up on disability care. In my community, disability care means that 11,000 Tasmanians will receive the support they need and the support they deserve. Benefits will also flow to businesses serving the disability sector. It will provide valuable economic support on two fronts. Firstly, those with disabilities will be given the opportunity to realise their full potential in the workplace by increasing workforce participation. The scheme will add to the capacity of the Australian economy. Secondly, with increased funding available to help those with disabilities, industries that provide goods and services to the disability sector will have a greater opportunity to grow.

It is my opinion that DisabilityCare will become a normal part of everyday life, that it will become self-evident in the same way that Medicare has become to Australian society. I worked in a debts court in Tasmania when Medicare came in. Up until that time, people were being sued for medical related debts. I think it was Bushby Harold & Partners who used to send down a pile of summonses on a Friday, suing dead and half-dead people who had attended the local hospital. We used to send the bailiffs out to collect their TVs. It was a terrible time in Australia until Medicare came in, and then the Fraser government came in and tried to get rid of it. My fear is that those opposite might do a Fraser on DisabilityCare or that the state governments might try to claw back money which the federal government is putting in to support people with a disability. I hope that is not the case.

DisabilityCare is a Labor government reform. It is needed to ensure that Australia moves forward and no-one is left behind. Labor governments have a proud tradition of implementing policies with long-term vision—Medicare, Medibank, carbon pricing, compulsory superannuation, fibre to the home, the National Broadband Network and now DisabilityCare.

Those opposite do not have a great tradition. They do oppose, they do repeal and sometimes they do not think that far forward. It is a case of two steps forward, one step back when a coalition government is elected. The coalition largely gutted and privatised Medibank in October 1976 and managed to set Australia back over eight years, before the Hawke Labor government could reintroduce universal public health care in the form of Medicare in 1984.

On the same theme of sending Australia backwards, let us talk about superannuation. The member for Warringah stated in this place on 25 September 1995:

Compulsory superannuation is one of the biggest con jobs ever foisted by government on the Australian people.

Not only did the Liberals oppose compulsory superannuation but they continue to oppose any increase. Last year, on 23 March, the member for Warringah confirmed:

We have always as a Coalition been against compulsory superannuation increases …

Those opposite have promised to repeal carbon pricing. According to the Climate Commission, Australia's emissions from power generation dropped 4.7 per cent in the second half of 2012, to their lowest levels in over a decade. Only the Liberals would want to increase carbon pollution and get rid of the pricing mechanism that is working.

The National Broadband Network is a critical piece of nation-building infrastructure, but those opposite are talking about setting back Australia in this regard too. They propose copper based 'fraud-band' to save a few dollars, because they see it as a cost, not an investment. If those opposite were not so serious about their cobbled-together 'fraud-band', you could legitimately mistake it for a joke.

Continuing on the Liberals, let us consider the Commonwealth contribution to disability services under the Howard government. Under the former coalition government, Commonwealth contributions to disability funding grew by a measly 1.8 per cent a year, less the rate of inflation. In other words, it went backwards.

I am proud to be speaking about DisabilityCare today. In doing so, I am speaking up for those in our community who are disadvantaged or made vulnerable by disability. I am proud to speak up for those who were neglected by the previous Liberal government and on behalf of Labor governments, which have shown throughout history that they get it right when it comes to the big decisions. Australia will not forsake the vulnerable. We support DisabilityCare Australia.

See this speech in context