Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month I was fortunate enough to be joined by Queensland senator Jan McLucas, the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, to hold a National Disability Insurance Scheme forum in my electorate at the Moorooka Sports Club, my local drinking hole. Approximately 50 people with disabilities, their families and carers, local service providers and advocacy groups attended, all keen to throw their support behind this important federal government initiative.

Senator McLucas also toured Westside Community Services and then we went to Multicap, seeing firsthand some of the excellent programs that these organisations run and the positive outcomes that can be achieved when appropriate care and support is given to people with disability. I note that Multicap has already received money under the NDIS program because of the great work they do. I recommend to anybody, if they are in my electorate, that they go down to Monte Lupo, which is connected to Multicap. They sell great mugs and decorative pieces on the corner of Logan and Padstow roads if you are looking for a gift for your wife. I know that the member for Wright often does that as he comes through my electorate.

Moreton is home to a number of peak disability bodies, including Deaf Services Queensland, Multicap, Monte Lupo and Kyabra Community Care Association, whose board I used to be on. There is also AEIOU, Autism Queensland, the Queensland Blind Association, Aid for the Blind, the Queensland Colostomy Association and many more. A number of these organisations held stalls at the forum and were keen to raise issues at the ground level. Some other great organisations include Contact, Huntington's Queensland and the Spinal Injuries Association. All of these groups, despite the range of disabilities and the parents and the ages of the people they deal with, passionately advocated for the people they represent and were all very concerned about the Queensland government's approach to the NDIS.

The strength of feeling at the forum demonstrated the broad support of the wider Brisbane community for fundamental reform of disability care and support. There were some heartbreaking stories about hardship, the sadness that comes when receiving much needed support for sons, daughters, friends, wives or whatever, and those horrible statistics for Queensland. I know that there are Victorians in the House, but a person with a disability in Victoria receives $10 to every $7 that a Queenslander receives. That is a gap that I would like to close. I think Victoria has been setting the bar for a long time, and it is about time Queensland caught up. I blame Labor and LNP governments in Queensland for that gap.

I am proud to be standing on this side of the House supporting the NDIS and delivering $1 billion for the first stage. I think I am standing on the right side of history when it comes to this approach, because the NDIS will give people with disability more control and choice over their care and support, irrespective of whether they live in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia or anywhere in between. The NDIS has the potential to do for disability what Medicare did for health in this country, what superannuation did for retirement savings and what HECS did for university opportunities for people irrespective of background.

Sadly, the conservatives have often stood on the wrong side of those arguments. They destroyed Medibank after they came in. Prime Minister Fraser did that, so we had to rebuild it with Medicare. In superannuation—even in this parliament and the one before—now we have $1.4 trillion in managed funds, but those opposite voted against the increase from nine per cent to 12 per cent. At the moment we have the fourth largest set of managed funds in the world. When we see that rise from nine to 12 per cent, we will see that it is a great thing.

From the middle of next year, launch sites will commence in South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, a year ahead of the timetable set out by the Productivity Commission. New South Wales and Victoria have also signed up to the scheme, but sadly this is not the case for Queensland. The Queensland community are rallying behind the NDIS and making their voices known, with almost 3,000 Queenslanders already signing the state Labor opposition's e-petition.

I call on Premier Newman and all from the LNP, especially those LNP state representatives in Moreton, to sign up to the NDIS. I ask people in Moreton to also contact their local MPs. Politics is all about priorities. It is disappointing that the Queensland LNP government has chosen a different set of priorities. Premier Newman can outlay $120 million for an upgrade to a racetrack down on the Gold Coast but cannot give $20 million to a pilot for an NDIS. That is a disgusting choice. (Time expired)