Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The NDIS is making an incredible difference to the lives of people right across my electorate of Hotham. There are lots of reasons why I'm proud to be a Labor Party member, and the NDIS is absolutely one of them. It took a Labor government to build this amazing scheme which beforehand saw people with disability in our country getting terrible treatment and poor life opportunities, and, importantly, participating in a geographic lottery where your life outcomes as a person with disability depended almost entirely on where you lived in Australia. The NDIS is answering the call of these problems, and our government is committed to making it stronger than ever.

We were very lucky recently when the Hon. Bill Shorten MP came to my electorate to speak to people directly affected by this scheme. Minister Shorten gave us a large amount of his time. He was incredibly sensitive to the needs of my constituents and, while he was there, was able to solve a whole lot of problems for people who raised them with him. The forum had some of the highest engagement I've seen in the entire time I've been the member for Hotham.

I will talk about two stories of people with disability in my electorate who are affected by this scheme. The first involves an important outcome that was achieved. My office has been working with two wonderful Hotham constituents—Laura and her daughter, Jess. At the forum Jess stood up and talked very bravely about the life-changing impact the NDIS has had on her life as someone living with a disability that's complex and uncommon. What's incredible is that her mum, Laura, has exactly the same condition but was facing hurdles in getting access to the NDIS. Laura came to the forum to be heard. She was then able to get connected with NDIA staff who could help her. She messaged my office last week, saying:

I've received amazing news. My application's been approved. We're all in total disbelief and cannot stop crying. Happy tears of course!

That is a beautiful story. I'm thrilled my team was able to play a small part in this life-changing support for Laura and her family.

I will tell a quick story about the impact the NDIS can have on someone's life. A local, Denise, shared the story of her brother. She says in her own words:

Before the NDIS, people like my brother had no access to speech pathology after school. Now he has access to speech pathology through the NDIS and an electronic communication device. This is life-changing for a sociable guy who's only ever communicated with or through family. Last Friday night, he ordered fried rice independently in a restaurant.

What an amazing story. I really want to thank my incredible community for welcoming Minister Shorten, and I want to say to all the people in Hotham who are affected by disability, and their families: we are fighting for you. Labor built this scheme. We are going to get it on track and make sure that it delivers good outcomes for Australians. That's exactly what they deserve.