Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for your question. Every member of the House knows that the NDIS is changing hundreds of thousands of lives for the better, but we also know the scheme is growing too fast. In the process of reforms, we've a discovered a serious loophole which we seek to address in parliament right now. Specifically: where an annual budget is spent in three to six months, there's nothing to stop the automatic top-up after the amount has been expended before the expiry of the plan. Sometimes there's good reason why the plan gets spent more quickly, but I'm advised by the agency that two-thirds of the requests for automatic top-ups are not legitimate, so there's a bill in the Senate to close this loophole.

We're proposing a total capped flexible budget for all participants. This will provide accountability for taxpayers and better choice and control for participants. This bill has been the subject of a 12-week Senate inquiry. There were 205 written submissions, 50 witnesses and three days of public hearings. The coalition members on the Senate committee did not dissent from the findings. However, the coalition, in alliance with the Greens, is now seeking to delay this bill another eight weeks to have a second Senate inquiry. Now, sometimes in parliament time is not of the essence. But I seek to table at the end of my answer a note summarising what the actuary of the NDIA has said. 'A two-month delay in the passage of this bill means a … $1.06 billion increase to expenditure over the forward estimates.' As a consequence, the Liberals and the Greens want to delay the legislation, which will cost a billion dollars, and the delay is pointless. The Greens are not a party of government and the Liberals opposite know we could do anything in this bill and they will never vote for it. But what makes this delay even more pointless and wasteful in a cost-of-living crisis is deep down the Libs and Nats know they're probably going to vote for the bill in August. So why are we having a $1 billion ego-vanity show?

That billion dollars that you're willing to waste could pay for the packages of 60,000 children on the scheme in a year. The average taxpayer in Australia pays $20,000 net tax. The coalition and their Greens allies are willing to say to 54,000 taxpayers that the tax they pay in a year doesn't matter. It's the population of Gladstone or Ballina or Port Macquarie. This is such a dumb thing to do. I ask more in hope than experience: don't hide behind this notion that you want to consult; just get on and save the money for the scheme. (Time expired)

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