Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As the honourable member knows, nothing speaks better of the character of our nation than the way in which we help those who are disabled and those who are less fortunate. That compassion and that love are what define us a great nation. It is the test of our character.

When we embark on a National Disability Insurance Scheme, the test is: have you paid for it? That is the question. Or are you just so filled up with the rhetoric of the moment that you are not prepared to pay the price? Are you prepared, as the Leader of the Opposition was, to get the plaudits from the sector, to get the plaudits from advocates for people with disability and to get the thanks from parents with disabled children but then not pay for it?

This was a shameful abdication of responsibility on the part of the Labor Party. I do ask honourable members opposite, filled with compassion—

Ms Macklin interjecting—

The member for Jagajaga is such a powerful advocate for those who need the support of the community. She sits there as part of a shadow cabinet she knows well supports the government's policy but was overruled by the Leader of the Opposition because he wanted to score a cheap political point. He wanted to score a cheap political point. He knows as well as we do—as well as every member of this House and every Australian does—that the National Disability Insurance Scheme has not been fully funded. We came into government in 2013 and we sought to fill the gap with savings. We were unable to achieve all that we sought to do, and so we have faced up to that reality and we are asking Australians to pay an extra half a per cent on the Medicare levy, which will fund it—as Labor knows it will and as the majority of the shadow cabinet knows it will. It is the decent thing to do. It is the right thing to do. It will enable the scheme, when it is fully deployed, to support 460,000 participants who have a disability and enable them to lead decent, dignified lives. It will add 60,000 new jobs to the economy, particularly in regional Australia, and it will enable us to do what we should—pay for our promises, honour our commitments and do the right thing.

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