Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. As the member knows so well, the NDIS will provide a very large boost to jobs and growth, and helping people with a disability into the workforce is estimated to increase GDP by an additional $8 billion. The demand for disability services is growing rapidly as we roll out the NDIS. An estimated 60,000 more full-time workers will be required by 2020. The disability workforce is expected to more than double, from around 73,000 to 162,000 full-time jobs.

I am asked whether there are any alternatives. The Labor Party now opposes the policy they used to support, to fully fund the NDIS by a 0.5 per cent increase in the Medicare levy. And, as I have noted this week, we have found many voices, past and present, supporting our policy of funding the NDIS. Admittedly the next one was a little hard to find, but boy was it worth waiting for. After a diligent search, there it was—

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