Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Let me thank Senator Waters and Senator Lambie for their contributions. I thoroughly and deeply appreciate it. I wasn't expecting to be able to speak to this motion this evening, but what I will just add to the contributions that have been made is this: I have been a proud member of the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS now for the best part of four years, and I know from firsthand experience that it is a committee of the parliament which is held in very high regard by disabled people because for the last four years particularly they have known that it is a committee which will be on their side. When the Liberal government, particularly, was trying to push through independent assessments against the advice of many of their own colleagues, it was the NDIS joint standing committee, working with the disability community, that delivered so many of the key moments in that campaign, created the space for them to be heard in the parliament. The report that that committee handed down was a key moment in ensuring that the Morrison government got the message that independent assessments needed to be chucked in the bin.

I want to reflect also that since the election the disability community have been really clear with all sides of politics. They want us disabled people to work together, urgently, to fix the NDIS and to break down the barriers of structural ableism everywhere they exist in society. They have been clear with every MP in this place that one of the best ways you do that is to put somebody with lived experience in those roles.

Having been here for four years, I do also understand the importance of collaboration as part of these committee processes. Should the Senate tonight take the step of placing me in the position of chair, I will, of course, work collectively and collaboratively across every section of this parliament to ensure that it is a committee which continues to deliver the consensus voice of the disability community. I absolutely pledge myself to doing that.

But I also urge both parties, tonight, to heed the words of the disability community in relation to placing people with lived experience in those leadership roles, in demonstrating clearly—you have another opportunity tonight—that you believe that disabled people belong in politics, that you believe that disabled people should be trusted and are able to lead the conversations in relation to our lives, in relation to our systems and processes, the systems and processes affecting four million disabled people, $500,000 of us on the NDIS and our families.

Take this opportunity tonight. Let one of the conventions, of this place, that have existed for so long, stifled so much, go in this moment. Let it go. And let us work together not only to deliver an NDIS that works for everybody but also to create a more accessible and inclusive society for everyone.