Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Hansard source

Again, thank you to Senator Hanson for the question. It's important for everybody in this chamber, and also for those watching or listening, to realise that the NDIS is a social insurance scheme; it is not a welfare scheme. The NDIS is a way of providing individualised support for people with disabilities, their families and their carers. This means support provided is related to a person's disability and the support that they need; it's not directly related to their capacity to pay for support. The NDIS was based on the principles of fairness and equality, meaning that your postcode, your socioeconomic circumstances or your means to pay for medical reports should not matter. But, sadly, today, they still do, and we have much work to do together to actually make sure that that is not the case. For example, in the senator's own home state of Queensland, the average plan budget is $76,000, while in Brisbane— (Time expired)