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

():  I move:

That the Senate take note of the explanation.

I take note of the answer given by Senator McAllister on behalf of Senator Farrell. Here we are again—the third time, I believe, the minister has been required to appear before the chamber and make the explanation required of him by the Senate. That is a very clear requirement. The Senate is not asking for a complicated piece of information. It is simply asking for the grounds upon which the government has claimed public interest immunity over the financial sustainability framework which it has adopted, along with the states and territories, in relation to the NDIS. This is a document of critical public importance. It has been cited in the government's budget as being the primary driver for the reduction over the forward estimates of some $50-plus billion in NDIS expenditure. There could not be a more textbook definition of a document that was in the public interest for release than this framework. Yet, for a third time in a row, this government, which was elected on a platform of greater transparency, greater collaboration and co-design of NDIS policy with disabled people, refuses to release such a basic document with such profound implications for disabled people.

This is in a context where, once again, we now see the government refusing to release additional pieces of information in relation to the NDIS. I am a strong believer that you judge a government on the pattern of its behaviour, and what do we see in the pattern of behaviour from the Labor Party in relation to the NDIS? We see that they have consistently taken decisions, and are still taking decisions, in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme in violation of their commitment to co-design those changes with disabled people. Not only are they refusing to release the financial sustainability framework; they've also ceased publishing the full financials of the scheme in such a way that, had the former government done it, I am absolutely sure that the crossbench would have led the charge, and Labor would have joined in, to release those documents. Yet the government has continually failed to release them.

Last week, we saw the government refuse to make public the full report of the Independent Review of the NDIS, even though that was handed to state and territory disability ministers on 30 October. This review has been the subject of so much time expended by the disability community and so much hope that the government would finally listen to disabled people and implement the changes that we need to see in relation to the NDIS. This is a significant milestone moment, and the government refuses to release it. The Senate asked for that document last week, and Ministers Farrell and Shorten responded to that request by saying—what do we want to guess they said, folks, given that we are currently debating a question of whether the government should release something over which they have claimed public interest immunity? They said: 'We will not release the report, because to do so would jeopardise the relationship between the states and territories. We will not release the report until after National Cabinet.' Isn't that funny? It's the very same National Cabinet to which the financial sustainability framework was sent and the very same National Cabinet, once that framework was there, in relation to which the government now implements a public interest immunity claim.

On what possible grounds should the Senate trust that this government will not make a public interest immunity claim over the report, or some part of the report, of the independent review once it has gone to National Cabinet? We have absolutely no reason to trust the government in this, because they have refused repeatedly to release this basic document for months now. I will continue to press this with them. Disabled people deserve transparency. Disabled people have the receipts, ministers, of your commitment to co-design—a commitment you are flagrantly violating. (Time expired)