Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would first like to acknowledge the 60th wedding anniversary of Dennis Lillee’s parents, who live in my electorate of Swan. Keith and Shirley were married on this date 60 years ago and are the proud parents of Dennis Keith Lillee, who became an Australian sporting legend and arguably the greatest ever fast bowler. Congratulations to Keith and Shirley, and I wish them many more wedding anniversaries and a return to full health for Keith.

I would now like to raise the important issue of employment opportunities for the disabled in my electorate of Swan. I commend the excellent work being done in my community by local organisations to promote employment for the disabled. Last week I had the pleasure of launching the Microbusiness Forum for People with Disabilities in Canning Vale, Western Australia. The event was organised by the dedicated people of the Canning Coalition to raise the profile of employment opportunities for local community members with disabilities.

It was a privilege to be there and meet such an inspirational group of people. Many of the speakers on that day talked about how rewarding starting their own businesses had been. For example, Sally Richards from Canberra spoke about the great satisfaction her son Jackson, who has Phelan-McDermid syndrome, gains from the business they run, called JACKmail. Similarly, it was wonderful to hear about the success of Richard Hill as Director of Riccom, a website design and disability awareness training company. Equally, Norma and Nathan Hatchett should be commended for their innovative Hooked on Hessian textile company.

Whilst the day was a positive experience, I was left in no doubt about the extreme challenges faced by disabled people to achieve their goal of employment. I would first like to refer to how the good work of the Canning Coalition in promoting employment for the disabled is being threatened by the Rudd Labor government. The Canning Coalition came into existence in 2006 following a Howard government policy for a national network of 213 local community partnerships regions. Local community partnerships are incorporated, not-for-profit, community based organisations that work to help young people gain skills, experience and career guidance as they move through and beyond school. Unfortunately, the Local Community Partnerships program is at risk. The Rudd government has refused to commit to the program beyond 2009. This has led to a great degree of uncertainty for the Canning Coalition, who are hamstrung and unable to plan properly for the future. The good work this organisation does is at risk.

Secondly, I would like to consider the Labor government’s lengthy delay in producing the National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy. On 15 February 2008, the government announced the development of this strategy which the member for Maribyrnong referred to as, ‘A new strategy to get people with a disability or mental illness into work.’ I genuinely believe that the member for Maribyrnong is a man of integrity who wants to make progress on this issue. However, to have to wait for the end of the year is disappointing, especially given that the government has been much more forthcoming on staging the Business Services Excellence Awards, which were recently held at the National Disability Services Employment Conference.

Thirdly, the government needs to ensure its own departments improve on their record of employing people with disabilities. The Australian on Monday reported that a Rudd government agency had written to the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, to ask for a clause to prevent disabled people applying for hundreds of jobs on health and safety grounds. Mr Innes said:

… the public sector’s efforts to employ the disabled had been “pathetic” … the agency’s conduct would embarrass the Minister for Employment Participation, Brendan O’Connor, and the parliamentary secretary for disabilities, Bill Shorten …

At the moment, 80 per cent of people with a disability who are employed work in the private sector. Government departments must do better.

I would like to draw the attention of the House to how difficult it is for the disabled and their families to make the decision to start their own business. Whilst the disabled and their families are eligible to apply to the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme for assistance in setting up their own businesses, they immediately must forfeit all special pensions they receive. This raises the risk threshold and denies many disabled people the empowering opportunity of starting their own businesses.

In summary, I urge the member for Maribyrnong and the Labor Party to focus on the following points. Firstly, the Labor government needs to commit to the future of Local Community Partnerships. Secondly, the government needs to be more focused and work more quickly to release the National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy to ensure Australians have a fair idea of what is planned for them. Thirdly, the government needs to ensure that the public sector vastly improve their record of employing people with disabilities. Finally, the government should provide support and encourage those applying to the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme by not taking their pensions away immediately. It is vital that we keep building employment opportunities for the disabled and that both sides of parliament accept this challenge.