Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Shall we start again? Today is the International Day of People with Disability, and today is a day when we have the opportunity to celebrate with the people of Australia the 4.4 million, or the nearly one in five Australians, who live with a disability—to celebrate their achievements and the contribution that they make to Australian society. Today is also a day that we should be asking ourselves: what more can we do to make sure that the lives of people who live with disability can be enhanced?

The theme of this year's International Day of People with Disability is promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership. I'd like to acknowledge Kurt Fearnley, who is the international people with disability day patron this year. He is one of the most inspirational athletes you will ever meet. Today we don't just celebrate the achievements of people like Kurt or Dylan Alcott, our famous tennis player, or Ben Gauntlett; we celebrate the achievements of every Australian who lives with a disability. Every Australian deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential and that must include our Australians who live with disability. This year, as part of international day of disability, we're trying to encourage schools to participate through the Grow Inclusion competition so that we can mainstream the idea that people with disability have every right to have the opportunities to set goals for themselves, just as every other Australian takes that as their right.