Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance, and I do so with a great deal of pride. I would like to comment on a couple of comments that Senator Brown just made in her contribution. I really take issue with Senator Brown and the particularly disgraceful comment that she made that ministers in our government couldn't wait to hand over their job. I think that's a shocking reflection on the commitment of our government and ministers, including myself. When I was Assistant Minister for Social Services, Housing and Disability Services I did that job with a great deal of pride and a great deal of honour. I was very sad when I was not able to continue as the assistant minister. For Senator Brown to reflect on ministers in that way, I really do think that she should come back into the chamber and withdraw that comment. When I was the assistant minister, I was incredibly proud to stand up for people with a disability, to stand up for their families, and their carers, and everyone in their world, to make sure that they had a better life, that they could be the very best that they could be.

One of the most significant reforms that happened when I was the assistant minister was our reform of the special disability accommodation allowance, which wasn't being included in people's packages. So, people were being left in a situation where they could not go out and seek accommodation, because they didn't know what sort of resources they had. That just seemed to be completely the wrong way around and we fixed that. I don't think I probably had a better day as the assistant minister when I joined Kirby Littlely and her family when she moved into her new home in Belmont in Geelong. There was such a sense of joy. We are seeing that joy all around the nation. These are people who previously had nowhere to live, whose parents and families were wracked with grief, not knowing what would happen to their children. Now, through the SDA, as but one example, which supports those who have the highest needs—around six per cent of all people who have a disability—this is absolutely transformative. So I'm incredibly proud of the work that we are doing in delivering the NDIS. That is not to say—and I do acknowledge the contribution of Senator Steele-John—that there have not been problems. Yes, there have been problems. There have been challenges. There has been too much bureaucracy at times. But our government, led by our Prime Minister, has been single-minded in our determination to improve the NDIS to make sure Australians with a disability get what they deserve by way of support, services and funding and to ensure that, as a nation, we can hold our heads high, because this is a world-first social insurance scheme.

I want to pay tribute to all Australians with a disability, their parents, like Senator Hughes, their carers and, of course, all the workers in the disability sector who play such an important role. And I will put on the record that, before the election, it was very disappointing that the current member for Corangamite, Ms Coker, drove around in a trailer saying she was going to put the heart back in the NDIS. It was a very embarrassing and, frankly, low political act to use people with a disability to try to make a point, obviously attacking me. And I regret today that we cannot celebrate with a sense of bipartisanship what we are doing on both sides of the chamber. On the point that Senator Steele-John has made about the scheme being rushed, yes, it was rushed. It basically began on 1 July 2013, one year before it was meant to. It was rushed because the then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, wanted to roll out the scheme a few months before the federal election. And I want to correct a very important statement that Senator Steele-John made: there was absolute bipartisanship. When Tony Abbott was opposition leader, the Liberal opposition was absolutely and utterly committed to rolling out the NDIS. I want to put that very strongly on the record and correct what Senator Steele-John said.

Of course, we are here because there is more politicking over the NDIS, and I do very strongly reject the premise of this MPI. The Morrison government has always been committed to fully funding the NDIS, and it's very clear that the Labor Party—with the exception of the member for Barton; I do acknowledge her concession—does not understand that this is a demand driven system. The money is there and it is provided for so that it can be drawn down as required. That, unfortunately, is the inconvenient truth which undermines the motion before the Senate today. What we are seeing is an increase in the NDIS budget as it is rolled out across the nation, from $13.3 billion in 2018-19 to $18 billion in 2019-20 and to $22 billion under the full scheme, which is no less than what Labor would commit to, of course, if it were in government. As I say, this is just some really regrettable politicking.

The NDIS, under our government, has evolved into the largest and fastest social reform, and one of the most significant social reforms, in our history. There are now nearly 340,000 Australians benefitting from the NDIS. And, of course, as at 31 December, there are another 134,000 people receiving disability supports for the first time—40 per cent of the total number of participants. So we are rolling out the NDIS at a very rapid rate. We're also listening. When things are not working—and that was certainly the experience when I was the assistant minister—we are listening and fixing the things that are not working, such as lifting the staff cap. So we certainly took very strong action to lift the staff cap.

The COAG NDIS quarterly report found that the average wait time for children aged up to six years to receive NDIS access had reduced from 43 days in June 2019 to an average of less than three days in December 2019. So, yes, there was a problem with children waiting too long, but we got in there and we fixed it. We have worked very hard to reduce the waiting time on the plans, and we've also worked very hard to reduce issues such as when someone wants to amend their plan and, of course, when someone wants to access assistive technology without having to get a number of quotations. So there was lots of bureaucracy which hampered the NDIS at an earlier stage but which our government is now tackling under our new minister, very much led by the Prime Minister, and we are doing that with a great deal of pride.

As I say, through schemes like the SDA, we are changing lives. We are making the most substantial contribution by way of committing $22 billion at full scheme rollout by 2021-22. That money is there. That money is provided for in the budget. Just look at the converse argument: imagine if we did not provide more money than was required in the budget. There would be a shortfall. As it is a demand-driven scheme, if there weren't a surplus amount of money in the provision for NDIS drawdowns then there would be a shortfall. Our government is not going to allow that to happen. As I say, that money is there. It can be drawn down when required. The faster the scheme rolls out, the more quickly the drawdown occurs.

So this is one of the many ways in which we are supporting Australians, and we're doing it because we are running our budget responsibly. We are making sure that through 29 years of continued economic growth, with low unemployment and lower taxes, and by fixing Labor's mess that we inherited—its spiral of debt and deficit—we are running the budget responsibly so that we can stand up for so many Australians who have a disability and provide all the other services that make Australians' lives all the better.