Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. The coalition has consistently supported the National Disability Insurance Scheme. When the former parliamentary secretary, now the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, first put this matter to the Productivity Commission, the coalition enthusiastically supported him. When the Productivity Commission brought down its various reports, the coalition enthusiastically welcomed them. And when the government finally committed itself to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, we warmly welcomed that and gave it our support.

Quite often in this chamber, I am accused of a relentless negativity. It is always unfair, but in this case it is false—because when it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, I am Dr Yes. I always have been, always will be. But the National Disability Insurance Scheme itself is a work in progress. It is a building site. Much is yet to be done. Much of the design work, indeed, is yet to be completed. We still do not know who will be eligible for the NDIS. We do not know what is covered by the NDIS. We do not know the extent of coverage by the NDIS. We do not know the precise role of the states in the operations of the NDIS, if any. Indeed, the very nature of the scheme itself is yet to be determined. Is it to be a scheme such as Medicare? Is it to be, in effect, Medicare for people with disabilities? Or is it to resemble more closely the workers compensation schemes or the state traffic accident schemes, which are genuine insurance schemes? All of this is yet to be finally determined—and there is a long, long road ahead of us. If we follow the Productivity Commission's timetable—and that would seem to me the smart thing to do—the road from this point will last for at least two more terms of this parliament. It involves not only three terms of the national parliament but also, if the National Disability Insurance Scheme is to come to fruition, the cooperation of nine governments: the Commonwealth, all six states and both of the territory governments and parliaments.

This is an extremely complex piece of policy we are dealing with. It is probably one of the most complex pieces of policy that has ever come before this parliament, that has ever been managed by a national government in this country. That is why, from the very beginning, the coalition has recommended the establishment of a bipartisan parliamentary committee, co-chaired by relevant frontbenchers—so that this scheme can indeed be shepherded from the early days to its completion through this parliament and through the other parliaments that need to work together if it is to succeed.

In the end, for this scheme to successfully come to fruition for the mighty benefit of people with disabilities throughout our country, it cannot simply reflect Labor values; it cannot simply reflect Liberal values. It must reflect national values. It must reflect the values that are held deep by members on both sides of this chamber, values that are common to members of all parliaments right around our country. It has to be a national scheme. The best way to ensure that the scheme is the product of this parliament, this nation, and not just the product of any one government or any one parliament, is to have the bipartisan committee that I have recommended. I am disappointed that the Prime Minister has not seen fit to take up this offer. I undertake—should there be a change of government later this year—to establish such a bipartisan committee, to ensure that this work comes to fruition.

The great issue that inevitably hovers over an enterprise of such magnitude is funding. The Productivity Commission estimated that the extra funding required for the National Disability Insurance Scheme was in the order of $6½ billion a year. That is not over the forward estimates. That is the starting estimate. I think the finishing estimate is likely to be somewhat more than this.

It is absolutely critical that as well as focusing on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, important as it is, we focus on building a strong and prosperous economy. It is the only guarantee of sustaining such a scheme through the years and decades to come. A rich country can afford a national disability insurance scheme; a poor country cannot. That is why economic prosperity is at the heart of delivering these kinds of services, the services that our people so understandably and so badly need.

The party that you can best trust to deliver a national disability insurance scheme is the party that you can most trust to deliver strong economic growth. I would put it to you, Madam Deputy Speaker Rishworth, and through you to the Australian people, that such a party is the coalition. Not only do we have the record when it comes to delivering strong economic growth but also we have the record when it comes to showing decency and compassion to people with disabilities and to their carers. It was the Howard government that in the last six budgets delivered substantial bonus payments to carers of people with disabilities. It was the Howard government that presided over a substantial growth in the number of people receiving the carers pension and the carers payment.

At the risk of blowing one's own trumpet, I have sought to engage as deeply as I can with carers. The Pollie Pedal charity bike ride last year, this year and next year will raise money for Carers Australia and I hope that on next year's Pollie Pedal bike ride the carers of our country, particularly in regional areas, might have the chance to chew the ear of a Prime Minister about concerns that are so important to them. It is this engagement with the carers of our country and with those they are caring for that will most guarantee that we do not lose interest in this scheme, that this scheme will be not just something that is put up in a bid to win an election but is something that becomes part of the life of our country—not just for a few months, not just for a couple of years, but forever, which it should be.

Many people have helped shepherd this parliament to the place it is today in support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Obviously, much work has been done by members opposite and by officials of the government and I thank them for the work they have done. I want to congratulate the shadow minister Mitch Fifield, who has been an indefatigable advocate for the rights of people with disabilities inside our party room as well as in the wider community. All of us are on a journey when it comes to our understanding of these issues.

I want to particularly mention Ara Cresswell, CEO of Carers Australia, who I have worked with so closely over the last year or so, particularly in connection with the Pollie Pedal charity bike ride. I should mention Millie Parker, one of the great advocates of people with disabilities. She is someone who has had a disability herself, someone who has herself experienced our system at its best and at its worst. She is obviously a strong advocate for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I thank John Della Bosca, a former New South Wales minister, who is running the Every Australian Counts campaign.

I particularly want to mention the Moore family of the northern beaches of Sydney. Derek and Laurelie have worked indefatigably for their son Grayden, who received a horrific brain injury some years ago. He was a youngster in the prime of life, an international standard athlete, when he received a horrific injury and probably would have died but for the indefatigable advocacy and intervention of Derek and Laurelie Moore. People like that are the real heroes in our society. People like that deserve to be acknowledged and recognised and deserved to be thanked for what they do, not just for those they love and care about but for the impact they have, the ripple effect they have throughout our society. Certainly my own understanding and insights into disability issues have been immensely impacted by what they have done and by what they have said to me.

The coalition strongly supports the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We intend to be a part of bringing it to fruition. For that reason, I am very pleased to have had this opportunity to contribute to the debate.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a rare thing indeed when an idea builds such momentum that it becomes accepted across the whole political spectrum. I can say without equivocation that this applies to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. As the Leader of the Opposition has said, it is an idea whose time has come. People across Australia have put up their hands to say that the current system needs to change. For many Australians with a disability there is currently no system or safety net at all. It is a shame that Labor has attempted to characterise this as a 'Labor reform' and politicise it. I see it as a reform all right-thinking Australians would support and do support. It is an entirely Australian reform, representing Australian values. All in this place agree that the current system of support available to Australians with a disability needs to change. People with disability and their families, their carers and all those supporting them deserve a better deal than they are currently getting. The coalition is committed to making this a reality and we have supported every step along the path to the development of the NDIS.

The agreement between the New South Wales government and the federal government demonstrates what can be achieved when the federal government adopts a constructive approach in negotiations with the states, rather than the adversarial approach of the last COAG meeting. That is why at the COAG before last it was disappointing that the Prime Minister could not rise above her partisan instincts. It is to the credit of Ted Baillieu and Barry O'Farrell that they continued to negotiate, in the face of public attack and misrepresentation by the federal government, and reached an agreement to host launch sites.

The NDIS is a once-in-a-generation reform that will unfold over the life of several parliaments. It therefore should be the property of the parliament as a whole, on behalf of the Australian people. The coalition has urged the Prime Minister to adopt a more cooperative approach, as there can be no NDIS without the states. They are partners, not enemies. It is now up to the Prime Minister to continue this constructive approach in discussions with all the other jurisdictions to conclude further bilateral agreement. Further expansion of the NDIS will be dependent on the Commonwealth negotiations concluding further bilateral agreements with each jurisdiction.

While we emphatically supported the government's commitment of $1 billion to the NDIS in the federal budget, we have some difficulty in reconciling this figure with the $3.9 billion the Productivity Commission said would be necessary over the forward estimates just for the first phase of the NDIS. It is imperative we get this right and we will require a very high level of consultation and attention to detail, not just now, not just when the sites are launched, but from now to its full implementation. To ensure this occurs, the coalition has called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee to be chaired by both sides of politics. A parliamentary oversight committee would lock in all parties and provide a non-partisan environment where issues of design and eligibility could be worked through cooperatively. The member for Dawson, George Christensen, has for some time put a motion in the House to establish this committee. Regrettably, it has not been brought forward for a vote by the House.

Senator Mitch Fifield, the shadow minister for disabilities, carers and the voluntary sector, moved a similar motion to establish the oversight committee in the Senate. He has done a marvellous job in advocating for people with a disability and for the NDIS. Labor and the Greens combined in the Senate to vote against Senator Fifield's motion. The Leader of the Opposition reiterated this offer in his Press Club speech this year when he said:

The Coalition is so committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, for instance, that we’ve offered to co-chair a bi-partisan parliamentary committee so that support for it doesn’t flag across the three terms of parliament and among the nine different governments needed to make it work.

Only if we give the most careful consideration to the implementation of the NDIS will we get this right for all Australians with a disability. Yet the government, which likes to pay lip service to wanting cross-party support for the NDIS, does not support a cross-party committee. When the opportunity arose to give this real meaning, the government declined to do so. Unlike the government, we will continue to place this issue above politics and are prepared to work with the Commonwealth and state governments toward a better deal for Australians with disabilities. I note that the Leader of the Opposition has reiterated in the parliament tonight that, if we are fortunate enough to be elected in September this year, we will introduce a genuine bipartisan committee co-chaired by the opposition and the government. We stand ready to work with the government to see an NDIS delivered as soon as possible. We believe we can do this within the time frame recommended by the Productivity Commission.

The coalition believes that the full implementation of an NDIS would be nothing short of a new deal for people with disabilities and their carers. Currently the level of support available to a person with a disability is dependent on a number of things—the state they live in and whether the disability is congenital or acquired later in life or through an accident or a workplace incident. But if you are born with a disability or acquire a disability it is a different story each time, particularly with waiting lists and queues. The bottom line is that this results in many people with a disability being left without the assistance that they desperately need. It is imperative that individual needs are at the centre and take priority. Individuals need to be able to pick the support, aids, equipment and service providers of their choice. We need a system of support that is based on need, rather than rationing, with the entitlement for support going to the individual. The NDIS is about empowering the individual, and removing government and unnecessary red tape from people's lives.

The coalition has a longstanding commitment to assisting people with a disability and their carers. The Howard government was trailblazing in support for carers and mental health in particular. I have been very lucky in my career in this place to have had opportunities in government to be involved with creating organisations and initiatives to help those with mental illness and disabilities. In 2006, as Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, I established the youth mental health initiative called headspace. The aim was to change the way youth mental health services are delivered with an emphasis on youth-friendly environments and improved accessibility. Headspace goes from strength to strength; it remains something I am very proud to have been involved with and, in fact, to have created.

I might say, in an element of bipartisanship, the current Minister for Mental Health and Ageing has done a superb job at continuing the good work of headspace. When good ideas are agreed to, whether by Labor or the Liberals, new governments should not sweep them away simply because the previous government came up with them. But even from opposition it is possible to make a difference. You need look no further than the Leader of the Opposition, who 15 years ago started the Pollie Pedal, which is a bike ride that raises awareness and funds for various charities. Each year, the Pollie Pedal has been gone from success to success. Last year, $540,000 was raised for Carers Australia. The next two Pollie Pedals will be in partnership with, and raise funds for, Carers Australia. Every year, the Leader of the Opposition invites me to join the Pollie Pedal; but, given my now ageing station after 20 years in this place, I fear that my best days of fitness might well be over.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are not competitive?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am, but he is very fit.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Stop smoking!

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Jill, for goodness sake, do not let the cat of the bag! Similarly, last year I had the privilege of addressing In 2 Life, which is a national youth organisation that supports Australia's youth by building help-seeking behaviours, coping strategies and life skills amongst peers. In 2012, In 2 Life launched their suicide prevention program, that was inclusive of a Facebook page. I was recently informed by Darryn Keneally, one of In 2 Life's directors, that since the introduction of the Facebook page the group has grown to approximately 23,000 members. The use of Facebook has provided another avenue for young people to engage in and utilise a significant resource of support.

Like many in this place, I have been involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and have met with many ambassadors from my own electorate of Sturt. Lorraine Pitman—the Family Voices committee chair—and her son, Thomas, have been fantastic ambassadors for JDRF. Lorraine has been involved with setting up workshops that assist people with type 1 diabetes to navigate through their challenges. In October last year, I attended the Walk for Juvenile Diabetes to raise awareness and funds for this group. I had the pleasure of supporting Oscar Lawrance from Sturt on this walk and the privilege to host him when he attended Parliament House in November for Kids in the House. Georgia Hall is another youngster from Sturt whom I have taken the time to meet with to discuss the concerns she has about facing diabetes. She raised a number of issues where the system is failing them. Along with meeting young ambassadors for JDRF, I have met with the chief executive officer Mike Wilson. Through all these conversations and this dialogue, what has been very clear is the need for the NDIS to be a success, and the need for it to be incredibly apparent and transparent in people's lives.

I must also acknowledge the work of the Every Australian Counts campaign, chaired by John Della Bosca, which has sought to keep the NDIS in the public mind on behalf of disability organisations. I did speak at the Every Australian Counts rally—alongside the member for Mayo—which was held in Adelaide with David Hoist and many of my South Australian parliamentary colleagues. During this campaign, I was invited to attend the DisabiliTEA that was being conducted Direct Care Australia, a fantastic organisation in Sturt that specialises in nursing recruitment, and providing personal and domestic care. The morning tea was attended by local service providers and carers. It provided an opportunity to have an open and frank discussion about the need for a way to overcome the issues currently facing the disability sector and the need for successful implementation of the NDIS. Andrew Daly, the chief executive officer of the Royal Society for the Blind—which exists in the north of my electorate—has gone through his concerns with me on many occasions about the way the NDIS deals with blindness as a disability.

In my role as a shadow minister for education, I firmly believe that there is no shame in a learning disability; the only shame is if it is not recognised and treated to an individual's needs. We are calling for the use of modified curricula and instruction in education, appropriate assistive technology and extra time for learning as students with disabilities go through school. It is crucial for children who suffer from a learning disability to receive the appropriate diagnosis, treatment and support in their school. I am currently working with the Specific Learning Difficulties Association of South Australia, SPELD, to raise awareness of this by asking the parliament to formally recognise dyslexia as a disability and to provide funding to ensure that students with dyslexia receive high-quality intervention as soon as the diagnosis has been confirmed.

Dyslexia is not a sign that children are lazy or unintelligent; it is a genuine disability. Sadly, proper support for children with dyslexia has not always been available. Although attitudes are changing as people come to understand the condition more, there is still much work to be done. We need to ensure that all Australian children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties get the support they need. The NDIS, properly implemented, will dramatically improve the lives of people with a disability. A coalition government will deliver it for all Australians and will work with the Labor government for as long as it is in power to make sure that the NDIS is successfully implemented. I thank the House.

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to follow the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Sturt, echoing their fine words of support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This important initiative is something which the coalition fully supports. It is important that there is a bipartisan commitment to such a policy, because it affects an area that is so important to people in the community.

I think it is important to say, at the beginning of my remarks, that I often find it the case in Australia today, that—with all of the apparatus of state and federal governments, charities and all the people who are there to look after people with disabilities—from a governmental perspective all of us in this place know that we are still not doing a very effective job. There is a great deal of need and a great deal of demand in our community, yet with all of the agencies, alms and taxes that are paid in we do not tend to get a lot out for people with very profound levels of disability and their carers, their families and their communities.

That is always something I like to reflect upon, because this is really one of the fundamental reasons that we have government. When somebody asks, 'Why do I pay so much tax?' or, 'Why do I pay such a high level of tax?' the answer invariably is: to look after people who cannot look after themselves—to do things for those who are in the most need. And there is no more genuine need than that of people who have high levels of disability. It often bemuses me that governments spend so much time doing so many other things but do not take care of these very fundamental things which I think we all agree we need to do much better on.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is something which is an attempt to bypass all of the blockages in the system that have built up over many years, between state and federal governments, and between agencies, and provide a platform for a better future for a person with a disability in Australia. That is why it is so welcome.

It is, of course, the case that we have seen many attempts in the past to do something about disabilities. Perhaps one of the most profoundly disappointing moments for me, as a participant in and a watcher of politics in Australia for some time, was when, near the end of the last Labor government in New South Wales I saw the minister responsible for disability issues, Graham West, retire from office. In his retirement press conference—I will never forget it; there was a Stateline presentation by Quentin Dempster—the minister with responsibility for disabilities in New South Wales said that he was stepping down because he felt that he could no longer make any meaningful change in the disability sector as the minister. Quentin Dempster, quite rightly, in this press conference said, 'But, Minister, you are the minister. You have a passion for disability services.' Mr West had a genuinely passionate interest in disabilities in New South Wales and a genuine desire to do something. The statement was, 'Surely you are at the pinnacle of government in this state and you can do something about it.' The minister was retiring to become a disability advocate in the private sector—to advocate for people with disabilities. I have say that as a young person—as a person who is passionate about politics and who has been committed to making a difference in my community for a long time—that interview has always stuck with me and has always affected me. Someone who had that passion, and who had that intensity to want to change the system—to do something for people with profound need—had got to the pinnacle of the ability to do it in government, as the minister for disability in New South Wales, but was pulling the pin because he did not feel he could make any impact in government. It was not an encouraging signal. And it was a signal that we need to do things differently.

The more involved you get with this sector and the more involved you get with the real humanity of the people—the more all of us interact—the more you understand that this is not a partisan matter. It is something that we all need to do better on. That is why I am quite prepared to support a concept like the NDIS. I am quite prepared to support substantial funding of an NDIS and ensure that we try something different and that we look at something that could provide a better future for so many people.

I attend disability events in my electorate—particularly the Ability Options at Bella Vista. Ability Options, which began in 1976, now provides programs and services to over 2,000 people and their families. It provides all kinds of services for people with disabilities: housing development, home maintenance, supported living, respite, community access, post-school programs, case management, self-management, disability employment services, transition to work and supported employment. Visiting with them, and understanding what they do, it was clear to me that there is a feeling in the community that we need to do better.

I had morning tea at the Jasper Road Public School Hills Physical Disabilities Team at Castle Hill. That was important in understanding the barriers that people can meet when trying to access services—the repeated barriers and the nature of the barriers over many years—and the frustration felt by parents, carers and people with disabilities. Those things are very important for all of us to engage with, but it is more important that we do something about it. When we get to the 'doing' we have some concern about ensuring that we get the best detail—and this will be a detailed area. It will be a new and complex initiative. It will require a focus on detail.

That is sometimes something which we are critical of, when it is lacking in other bills. In this area it is important that we work together to get the detail right from the beginning. I think it is right that the coalition, through the member for Dawson, has proposed an oversight committee of parliamentarians from the House to ensure that all parties are brought together in a spirit of bipartisanship. There is nothing political or untoward about it. It is purely to ensure that we have the same input as anyone else so that we people on this side of the chamber can contribute the experience of people who have been in government and who understand that complexity can often be one of the biggest challenges with such a grand and noble scheme. And it is a noble scheme. So, when we get to that scenario, when we are examining the details, the coalition stands ready to work with the government and see an NDIS delivered as soon as possible. Given that the full implementation of an NDIS would be nothing short of a New Deal, from the beginning it has to be carefully monitored, implemented and put into place with a well-thought-out program.

I am certainly concerned about a number of aspects of it because when I meet with people at disability events, and when I read all of the emails I receive from so many people in my electorate—I have a sample of them here that I will speak to in a minute—I find that there is a level of expectation about the NDIS that is building to the point where I am concerned that we should make sure, from the beginning, that we are realistic with people about it. This will not be a panacea. It will not solve everybody's problems everywhere, all at once. That is why it requires careful thought about structure, careful thought about form and careful thought about detail.

In particular, I am concerned about how we can ensure that we get greater employment of people with a disability in Australia. It is a source of great shame for Australia that we are, internationally, at quite a low benchmark in relation to the employment of people with disability

It is something that governments need to look at. It is something that I would like to see at the forefront of what we are doing to help people with a disability. It is a vital component, where we can get industry, business, the private sector, working in cooperation with government to ensure that benefits are delivered. I have not heard a lot about it so far, but I am hoping that we can ensure that employment is part of the insurance scheme's objectives or at least ensure that we are working concurrently with the private sector so that more people with a disability are able to be employed in Australia in the future.

I have spoken about the importance of the National Disability Insurance Scheme bipartisan parliamentary committee and why that will assist to ensure that we can provide our experience and diligence to the government, but I am also concerned that the federal government work with the states. We want to see a productive relationship between state and federal governments on this issue. Part of the problem and challenge with this sector in the past has been that we have not necessarily had the best approach to disability support. We have had duplication, red tape, regulation and sometimes insufficient interaction between federal and state governments. We have seen a constructive approach in New South Wales, and I fully support, as a New South Wales member, the approach of Premier O'Farrell in signing an intergovernmental agreement in December for a full state-wide NDIS rollout after the Hunter project. This is important, and it is now up to the government to continue with bilateral agreements.

The mechanics of the agency that will be established by way of legislative instruments are called the NDIS rules. The NDIS rules establishing eligibility and criteria are going to be where the most consideration and the most concern will have to be given. I have received many submissions about the age barriers, which we have already set at 65. I understand why there has to be a limit, but there are a lot of concerns in the community that are going to have to be addressed and managed.

On the significance of this bill as a framework, I think it is important to lower the expectation bar in some regards about what this will do. That requires a careful discussion about these rules. We have just seen the release of the discussion paper, on 1 February. I am not trying to criticise, but it would be fair to say, having a look at it, that there is not a lot of detail there. There is not a lot of information. It is really a set of questions, not a set of rules. I think we need to start to get to some of those rules and start to manage the expectations of the community in a way that will produce a positive outcome, because, regardless of which party is in government now or going forward, it is vital that there be a consensus on the approach and vital that there be a bipartisan approach to every part of the process, including the draft set of rules and including the expectations of the NDIS.

I want to turn briefly to some of the people in my electorate whose concerns I promised I would raise. Sharon, who lives in my electorate, has written to me about her younger sister, who is 46 years old and has an intellectual disability and a range of limitations, including failing eyesight, limited mobility in both arms and legs, and the need to use a bladder catheter and a bag. She has been in receipt of a disability support pension since she turned 18, although she has had short periods of supported employment. Sharon and her siblings continued to support her living in a home following the illness and death of their mother 8½ years ago. However, now she is in Westmead Hospital following several falls, depression and ongoing harassment from drug-addicted and threatening neighbours. She is residing there following a stint in hospital at North Parramatta. Sharon tells me there is insufficient support available, especially overnight support, to enable her to live independently in the community. When you put all of those circumstances together, you can understand why we need to do better in Australia for people like Sharon and her younger sister. Dealing with that sort of profound disadvantage is supposed to be the pointy end of government, and yet the limited support available makes life very difficult for Sharon and her sister. That is why this NDIS is so important.

I have had many other people raise issues with me. Melissa from Castle Hill is hoping that the NDIS will mean that her daughter has some security for her future. I think the families are sometimes the most compelling in the cases that they make, because they are the people who take up the slack when government and society fail to assist in a profound way. They are the ones who feel most passionately, because they care so much for their relatives and siblings, and they often have the best experience and stories to tell about where the system is failing.

It is easy for us to come in here and talk about all these individual cases, and we all have these concerns and we all share a profound concern for the future of the disability sector; it is much more difficult for us to do what needs to be done. In the doing of the NDIS, it is vital that we get this government policy right. It is important that, from the beginning, it is bipartisan, it is well supported by government and it is well planned and executed. Whether that be through the use of the parliamentary oversight committee mechanism, which is a very good suggestion of the member for Dawson, or whether it be through other ways whereby the experience and know-how of former ministers, of people with longstanding service in the parliament, can be brought together, this is such an important change in the environment for the future, at the federal government level, that it is vital that it be done right from the beginning. In speaking in total support of the NDIS—the concept and the plan—I urge the government to work with us as we are willing to work with them at any point, at any juncture, to ensure that this is an unqualified success.

Debate interrupted.