Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for Berowra for his question. He is my northern neighbour and a very strong champion for Australians with disability. As the member for Berowra knows, the vital services upon which Australians with disability depend can only be funded if we have a strong economy and a strong budget. At the very core of those services is the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Over 200,000 Australians with disability are now supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with 60,000 of them receiving support for the first time. In the electorate of Berowra, I'm pleased to say, almost 2,000 people will benefit from the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It's applying in a whole range of different ways. The Early Childhood Early Intervention pathway is now supporting over 6,600 children, and that is transforming lives for children at a vital and critical stage of life.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is fully funded under our Liberal-National government, with over $8 billion in the Commonwealth budget in 2018-19 out of a total of nearly $17 billion, including the state and territory contribution. By 2021-22, that number rises to $22 billion. And it's not just spending on the NDIS which is rising; overall spending on social security and welfare was $132 billion in the last full financial year for which Labor had responsibility. In 2018-19 it is up to $176 billion. But here is the remarkable and the noteworthy thing: all of that has happened without raising taxes.

We are moving, on this side of the House, from budget deficit to balance and a surplus. At the same time, we have maintained that discipline. We have made social welfare spending sustainable, when it was rising unsustainably under the previous government. It's called good management, which is not something the left are interested in. It's not something they know about; it's not something they care about. They don't go and have street protests, saying, 'We want good management.' But there is nothing more important to the livelihoods and fortunes of the Australian people, and that is why we are delivering with a strong budget and a strong economy that funds the essential services that Australians rely on.

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