Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

NDIS providers in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury are, alongside their clients, bearing the brunt of problems with the rollout. It was no surprise to me to be advised that my office handles more NDIS complaints than pretty much any other MP's office in the country. Shadow minister for disability and carers Senator Carol Brown recently met with a group of my local providers who hold a monthly roundtable to discuss the challenges that they face. These providers included DARE Uniting, Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, EMPOWERability, Thorndale NADO, and Disability Advocacy New South Wales. They spoke about how inefficient the systems are, with information lost by the NDIA and inconsistent information coming from them, plus the slow review times.

The challenges facing disability enterprises also came up, and the fact that employment programs are so often not included in NDIS participants' plans, in spite of people's desire to be employed. A visit to DARE has shown me just how much people value those employment opportunities. The NDIA fee structure, the complaints process and the way in which the health system intersects with the NDIS have flaws. There is lack of training of planners, leading to inadequate and inconsistent plans, the extraordinary length of time it takes to get a plan reviewed—I could go on. I thank the shadow minister for listening to the issues that my community is experiencing, and I look forward to working to make this system work for people with disabilities, their families and the people who care for them.

L ong-time residents of Windsor are increasingly horrified by the lack of care being shown at the archaeological dig in historic Thompson Square. This is meant to be a process to identify and preserve history before the square is devastated by a modern concrete bridge thanks to the New South Wales Liberals. But , in fact, what's happening on the ground is that the caterpillar treads of the giant mechanical excavators are crushing the remains of goodness knows what artefacts.

Let's get the picture. In 1811, Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered that all structures in Thompson Square be cleared, opening the space for civic use. Any structures — foundations, brickwork, paving — that are now being found are therefore likely to pre date 1811, s o what is being discovered is likely to be material from the very earliest years of settlement at Windsor , between 1795 and 1811 , or to be earlier , Aboriginal relics. Thirty years ago, archaeologist Edward Higginbotham noted that any archaeological excavation of the square would provide a totally unique opportunity to identify the location of a number of known buildings whose locations had been lost, including the first government granary , which was vital to the colony being spared starvation. This could stop . This square could be emergency listed today by the minister, and all he has to do is pick up the phone to New South Wales and say , 'Stop.'