Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is good you are participating in the MPI, member for Fenner.

True to form, Labor's implementation of the NDIS was at best a joke; if not, a nonevent. During the time I was on the NDIS committee we looked at some of the expenditure of the billion dollars that had been committed by the Labor Party for the first four years—they committed $1 billion only for the first four years and then they started committing bulk expenditure, knowing that they would not be in government. We went out to visit Midland, and the money being spent by the government on the NDIS was to build a Taj Mahal out at Midland to house the people who were going to service those clients who needed to use the NDIS. Where were the actual priorities for the Labor government in building Taj Mahals to service the clients? What about spending that money on the clients? Where were their priorities?

Those opposite talk about the NDIS and the fact that they introduced it. It was a bipartisan agreement that we were to introduce the NDIS, and the coalition will honour our commitments. We have an absolute commitment to keeping the NDIS going, and anyone who is part of the NDIS knows that they are already getting the services they require. We heard members from the other side of the House talk about how successful some of the NDIS management programs have been for the people who live in their constituencies. So they are having a go at the government about the NDIS scheme but at the same time congratulating the government on the process and the introduction of management plans for NDIS clients.

We then have Labor talking about savings. In their budget they said they were going to make savings, but they could not identify those savings. We heard the member earlier talking about the increase in the Medicare levy. How that was going to save the government $4.1 billion, which they cannot identify, is an absolute mystery. These are mysterious savings that they are not prepared to identify. Those opposite talk about threats to the Australian people. Let's look at their 50 per cent renewable energy target. That is now the biggest threat to Australian families. If they do not realise that now, they never will. They are just barking up the wrong tree.

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