Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is wonderful to be able to get up and respond to this important motion from the member for Bowman because, like him, I am concerned about those most vulnerable in the community and also concerned about making sure we provide particularly those people with a disability with the care, support and assistance they need. But we also need to be honest about the pathway to do so. We just heard from the previous speaker about how we shouldn't be concerned about things like dollars and cents. I can understand from an opposition that didn't fund the NDIS why they would take so little interest. They judge a policy not by its outcomes, and seemingly not even by whether it is funded, but simply by their good wishes and intent. The tragedy of that is that it might give them good political selling points for their constituents and it might create a narrative or an argument that they can give in their social media videos of speeches they give in the Federation Chamber, but it doesn't reflect the lived reality of many people with a disability in our community who so desperately need not just the rhetoric of support but financial resources for that support.

What stays an eternal shame and a stain on the legacy of the opposition is that when they last left government they made a promise to people with a disability in this country on what they would deliver but never delivered the funding to do so. That is an eternal stain on their legacy and means their commitment to what they want to do rings hollow.

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