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

Congratulations to the 90,000 Parramatta taxpayers getting a tax cut. But there's also good news for the over 400,000 people, the therapists and the disability support workers, who look after participants, who will all be getting tax cuts and have just got them. A disability support worker on $75,000 is going to get about $1,500 in tax cuts this year. An occupational therapist on $120,000 will get about a $2,700 tax cut. So that's good news. Plus, award wages have moved for disability carers, about 15 per cent, since Labor got elected. There's the $300 energy supplement and there are cheaper medicines, and super's going up to 11½ per cent. So, literally, the NDIS workforce is getting to earn more and keep more of what they earn.

But there are some threats to the relief of cost-of-living pressures for people on the scheme and for the people working in it. There are vital NDIS reforms to get a better deal for participants that are stuck in the Senate until mid-August. This is bad news, because the actuary of the scheme has said that an eight-week delay on this bill is going to add a billion dollars in inflated costs to the NDIS. The Senate has had 12 weeks to look at this matter, but, puzzlingly, the coalition members of the Senate have got some more questions they need answered.

I explained last week that personal budgets are getting overspent before the expiry of people's plans, and that's a loophole we need to stop—the automatic top-ups. But there's another change I'd like to let the House reflect upon. Currently the act only excludes supports that are supposed to be funded by other service systems, but it doesn't rule out specific services in the primary legislation. The courts have taken a very broad interpretation about what NDIS money is allowed to be spent on. They've been rolling successive governments on NDIA decisions. There's a new section 10 which will exclude some of the specific decisions which shouldn't be being funded because they're not true to the purpose of the scheme.

But remember I said that the Liberals haven't made up their mind? I want to put this to the House: what is so difficult that it will require eight weeks and a billion dollars? At the moment we want to rule out the payment of strata fees; fines; steam rooms; gambling; legal cannabis; cruises; trips to Japan; non-assistance animals; taxidermy; weddings; gift cards; the Liberal favourite, sex toys; crystal therapy; cuddle therapy; clairvoyance and tarot—

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