Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a newly elected member of parliament, I expected that a significant part of my time would be spent helping people with disabilities in my community and their carers to navigate the increasingly frustrating and complex NDIS. Sadly, that expectation was correct. Like many others in this place, I've had to help my constituents who have waited extra-long times for wheelchairs, whose plans have been arbitrarily cut in half and who are at their wits end.

But what I didn't understand deeply enough was the way in which this government's failure to roll out the NDIS properly has affected the dedicated service providers. Recently, I held a round table in my electorate office with the shadow minister, Bill Shorten, and a number of dedicated NDIS disability service providers—people who have spent their entire lives advocating for and helping people with disability. It is no exaggeration to say that these fundamentally decent people were heartbroken because they cannot provide the care that they have been able to provide in the past, and that they want to provide in the future, because of the way in which this government has neglected the rollout of the NDIS. There have been arbitrary cuts, increased costs and waiting times, and a feeling of demonisation. These fundamentally decent and hardworking people want to look after people with disability and their carers, and it's time this government stood up, fixed the NDIS, spent what was needed and helped them to do the job that they have dedicated their lives to.