Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Savings Fund Special Account Bill 2016. As we have heard, this bill seeks to establish a new savings fund that would sit within consolidated revenue. The government claimed—and they have been claiming this a lot in the last few days—that, in order to meet the necessary funding obligations for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, they need to set up this ongoing special account. Let me make a few things clear from the beginning. Most of all, this legislation is not about the actual National Disability Insurance Scheme; it is not actually about helping and assisting those people with disabilities, their families or their carers. I want to make something else very clear from the outset. Let us always remember that Labor created the NDIS; Labor designed the NDIS; Labor fully funded the NDIS. As a result of our commitment and our design, now thousands of people across the country are having their lives transformed through the NDIS. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all those individuals and community groups who, for years, fought for the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I have spoken to many of those people over the years and I admire and commend their dedication.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Savings Fund Special Account Bill is a not-so-subtle attempt by this government to pretend that the NDIS, as designed and developed by Labor, is not fully funded. It is, in fact, a political stunt, providing yet another poor excuse for this government to make further damaging cuts to the social services portfolio. It is indeed a shameless political stunt, at the expense of some of the most vulnerable people in our communities—in a sense, making them political pawns. It is disappointing on many levels.

The government falsely claims—and, indeed, has falsely claimed on many occasions in the last few days—that the NDIS was left high and dry under the Labor government; they keep saying that at every chance. This is completely untrue, and the government's continued insistence on this fallacy will not make it any less of a political game at the expense of people with disabilities, their families and carers. The whole premise of this legislation is based on this blatant untruth—that Labor, in government, did not make the budget decisions required to fund the NDIS. It is indeed a falsehood we have seen trotted out again and again in the last few days by most of the people across the chamber.

But, despite their commitment to this obvious duplicity, deep down members opposite will be very aware that the NDIS was indeed fully funded. In fact, many of those opposite were sitting in this chamber and voted for those savings measures when they were introduced. This government, in opposition, agreed to the decisions that were made to contribute to the cost of the scheme. Indeed, under Labor, in the 2013 budget, the NDIS had a clear plan, explicitly showing funding for 10 years and taking it even further than the transition to the fully-funded scheme. This included, but was not limited to, an increase to the Medicare levy, which was always intended to cover some—not all—of the cost of the NDIS. Labor made other responsible budget choices to help fund the NDIS over the 10 years, including private health insurance rebate reforms, retirement income reforms, amendments to tax concessions for fringe benefits, changes to tobacco excise indexation and changes to import processing charges—a whole range of changes to pay for the NDIS. Some of the legislation that gave effect to these measures even passed the parliament after the 2013 election, when the coalition had already formed government.

In opposition, as in government, the coalition purported to bipartisanship for budget measures that were specifically intended to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. So, if the funding from these measures is no longer directed towards the NDIS—well, where is it being channelled to? That, of course, is the obvious question, based on what they are saying. If the government truly believes that the NDIS is unfunded, why has it signed bilateral agreements with state governments committing to the full rollout and the full funding of the National Disability Insurance Scheme? In fact, in setting up this other account, the government is questioning their own supported budget savings measures. The real question should be: 'What has the government done with the money that they have agreed was already set aside for the NDIS?' That is the real query that many people have.

The answer is that this is yet another opportunity for this government to pursue more unfair budget cuts—cuts that will affect the most vulnerable in our communities. And we have certainly seen over the past few years some very harsh cuts to those very, very vulnerable people in our communities. We have seen budget after budget with different measures—very cruel, many of them. But I think what we have seen this week from this government really does take the cake when it comes to their levels of cruelty, in terms of their omnibus bill and the fact that they really want to hold the NDIS hostage, if you like. It has been quite appalling to see what they are doing. They are in fact holding the NDIS hostage over their $5.6 billion in cuts to families, new mothers, pensioners, people with disability, carers and young jobseekers. What they are doing is playing a disgraceful political game of brinkmanship.

People with a disability do not deserve to be treated with such absolute contempt by the Liberal and National parties, in holding them hostage for their cruel cuts. Make no mistake: linking the delivery of the NDIS to massive cuts to families, pensioners, people with disability, carers and Newstart recipients is not just appalling; it is also very cruel. And people in the community are telling me that. They are also very distressed and upset that the funding for the NDIS has been placed in this position by the government, with these threats, and holding them hostage.

Is the government actually seriously saying that if these unfair cuts are not passed through the Senate then the NDIS will not go ahead? Is that what they are actually saying to the community? That is the fear the community has, and that is certainly what they are relaying to me.

Many of these people with disability and their families have waited years and years and years for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and many people have fought hard for it. And this government should actually be getting on with the job of delivering the NDIS. They should stop telling these untruths to those people with disability and their families, and they should stop putting the future of the NDIS into doubt, because it is causing a huge amount of distress. I think what makes it worse is the way they are attacking so many vulnerable people in our community but have still got their $50 billion in tax cuts for big business—that is still there, whilst all of these other cruel measures are taking place and whilst the NDIS is being held hostage as well.

I note today some very apt comments from Kurt Fearnley, the five-time Paralympian. He has reportedly accused the government of using the NDIS as a 'political football' and criticised the decision to fund it through cuts to other social services. Kurt Fearnley was a member of the NDIS advisory council, and an ABC News article reports that he:

… criticised the Government for taking funding from services that benefit vulnerable members of the community as opposed to re-evaluating its negative gearing program or big business tax policies.

In that article he is quoted as saying:

To sit there and draw a direct line between funding for people with disabilities and the cuts to other vulnerable members of our community—to those on welfare, to those on pensions—you could draw that line across a thousand different parts of the budget.

And he says that he wishes the government would fight for the NDIS with as much vigour as it is fighting for its $50 billion business tax cut. How true is that! The government will repeatedly go out there and fight for the top end of town, but for those with a disability or those on a whole range of pensions, we just see their constant cruel measures, and I think it really goes to the heart of what this government stands for. And with the government pursuing these more unfair budget cuts, yet again, as always, it hurts the most vulnerable in our communities.

Labor committed the revenue from the increase I spoke about before—the increase to the Medicare levy—into the new DisabilityCare Australia Fund. That is a special account from which the states and territories are paid in accordance with their agreements. So there is already an account into which funding is placed to fund the NDIS. But this government wants to set up a special account that serves no genuine purpose in the budget. The money put into the account would still sit in the contingency reserve to be used as the government prioritises. So it is purely political. And all this to ostensibly fund the NDIS—a scheme that has already been fully funded by Labor.

Furthermore, and most importantly, this political game that this government is playing comes at a real cost, because the National Disability Insurance Scheme is dedicated to ensuring that people with a disability, their families and their carers receive full access to the services and programs they need, affording them the respect and value that they deserve in our community. By 2019, the NDIS was designed to support over 460,000 Australians with disability, their carers and their families, and that support will take the form of personal care, access to community services, therapy services and essential equipment, because the former Labor government did all the work of designing and costing the NDIS. The 2013 budget under the Labor government set out—to be precise—a clear 10-year funding plan. The Minister for Human Services and the Treasurer, as I say, keep trying to convince everyone that that is not the case, but deep down they know that it is true. They will try to say the savings measures were not specifically allocated, but their arguments, as always, are incorrect and flawed. Labor set up that account, and it is very disturbing to hear the government keep peddling those untruths. The government claims bipartisan support for the NDIS but it is more than happy to use its scheme as a pretext for its budget cuts. It shows that that level of bipartisanship is not there. It is distressing to see that and hear the government's repeated untruths about that.

Labor referred this bill to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry, and their recent report supported the overwhelming evidence against the establishment of this account. In the submissions to the inquiry there were a number of quite lengthy concerns from non-government organisations. It is interesting to note that among the concerns they had was the fear that the establishment of the account would lead to less certainty of NDIS funding, as it would be tied to savings measures that may not pass parliament, and the concern that it should not be used as an excuse for cuts to payments to the most vulnerable. That is exactly what the Senate inquiry found and it is now precisely what we are seeing.

There are many reasons why what the government has done is wrong and why it is cruel. We should look at the reasons why the NDIS was first put in place. The NDIS was there to give all Australians the peace of mind that if their child or loved one was born with, or acquired, a permanent or significant disability they would get the support they needed. This new model is a significant move from the previous ad hoc system to one that encourages both participation and empowerment, providing people with choice in their own care, which is vitally important.

In 2010, following discussion about the need for a major reform of disability services in Australia—I think it was widely recognised we needed that reform—the Labor government requested the Productivity Commission to carry out a public inquiry into the care and support of people with disabilities. The commission found that the disability support system was underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient, and that people with disabilities had very little choice and absolutely no certainty of access to appropriate support. The stresses on the system were growing. Also growing were the costs for governments at every level with an increasingly ad hoc system. The Productivity Commission received over a thousand submissions from people with disabilities and other stakeholders in the disability sector.

It was decided that what was needed was a disability care and support scheme that would determine services designed to meet the long-term needs of people with disabilities, their families and carers. The inquiry looked at the feasibility of such a scheme, the costs and benefits, as well as how the scheme could work with the sectors of health, aged care, informal care, income support and injury insurance. It included how the scheme should be introduced and the oversight of it, along with the protections and safeguards that would need to be a part of it.

The then Prime Minister released the Productivity Commission's report in August 2011. In March 2013, the NDIS legislation was passed—a very proud day—and the NDIS Act 2013 was created, along with the NDIS and the National Disability Insurance Agency. Regional offices were established, and each of the first-year launch sites was put in place to manage implementation on the ground. We have heard a lot of feedback from those launch sites on how important this scheme is to Australians.

Labor will keep fighting to protect the NDIS that we created, and we will certainly defend it, particularly from the attacks we are seeing. The NDIS should not have to suffer because of the political game playing that we are seeing at the moment from the government. This is too important for our country and too important for the future of those people with a disability and their families to have it be part of some political game that the government wants to play.

Labor created the NDIS, we designed the NDIS and we fully funded it. We have made that very clear on many occasions and let's make it extremely clear again tonight. As a result of those initiatives, thousands of people across the country continue to have their lives transformed. In my electorate of Richmond I have spoken to many people who are eagerly awaiting the rollout of the scheme in our area in July. I have heard lots of positive feedback from other people around the country about what a difference it makes to them and how it will really empower them and change their lives. There may have been some small teething problems and changes as we moved to a new system, but I think overall there is strong community support for this scheme. I hear it all the time, not just from individuals and families but from community organisations and larger organisations who are all very keen to work together to get this great outcome.

I will continue to fight to ensure that those in our community receive the full support that is afforded to them under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. People in my community and throughout the country should not have to worry about the future of the scheme. I cannot underestimate the level of distress that has been caused this week with the government holding the NDIS to ransom and with the language they have used and the upset they have caused. The fact is, people with disabilities, their families, their carers and their communities know that Labor has their best interests at heart. They know that Labor has fought for, designed and funded the NDIS. We continue to do that in this House, we will continue to do that in the community and we will continue to stand up for those people who need us. We have always fought to protect them and we always will, because we understand the importance of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

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