Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion by the member for Lindsay in relation to the International Day of People with Disability, and I thank the members for Calwell, Paterson and Gellibrand for their comments in relation to this motion as well. Of course, we want to see people with a disability live normal lives. They want to be able to play sport. They want to be able to work. They want to be able to have relationships like all of us. The NDIS has bipartisan support, and I think that as a parliament together we need to continue to work on that to ensure that it is delivered on time and is helping those people who need it most in all of our electorates right throughout Australia.

I met a young guy just last week—on Friday, actually. He was having lunch nearby. He came to one of my job seeker boot camps that I put on a couple of weeks ago. He was looking for work. He is a young man with Asperger's. He has been on a disability support pension for two years. He really wants to go to work. I ran into him again on Friday and said, 'What is it that you really want to do?' He wants to be a baker. I encouraged him. He could get some experience now in a bakery, and perhaps in years down the track he could run his own bakery. He is putting together his resume at the moment so that in the next week or two he can get out and see all the bakeries in my electorate and ask for the opportunity to work in one of those bakeries with great customer service on the front bench, serving people, perhaps getting in really early and helping with the actual baking—when they get in at three in the morning—and everything else.

I mention that because I believe, after talking to him on Friday, that that young man will achieve his goals. It goes to show that, just because you have a disability, that does not mean that you do not have goals like everyone else. I think this motion is very relevant, and I thank all the speakers involved.

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