Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to make a contribution on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024. Noting that I will be put in continuation in about five minutes, I wanted to make some initial comments, first up, about the issue of scrutiny. From sitting here this afternoon and listening to the debate on this bill, it is very clear to me that the ability of this chamber to fully scrutinise the impact of this bill and to fully understand the impact that this bill will have on NDIS participants and the community that supports them has been seriously lacking, and I think that is incredibly disappointing.

I want to quote from the report into this bill. These are the additional comments that were tabled by my colleagues, coalition senators on the Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Senator Kovacic and Senator Hughes. They said:

The Coalition is unable to provide fully-informed commentary on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 [Provisions] legislation, due to the government's unwillingness to grant an extension to the committee for further scrutiny on sensible and necessary measures for the sustainability of the NDIS.

We note insufficient time has been provided for proper consultation with the sector and the community on the bill who have expressed widespread misgivings about the current legislation.

The opportunity to properly engage with this bill is important in bringing the NDIS back onto sustainable footing in a manner that does not disadvantage or impact negatively on participants most in need.

It was also concerning that the committee was not given the opportunity to consult the sector on government amendments tabled on the day of the public hearing.

This is a direct quote from the Senate report into this bill, from the additional comments that were provided by my colleagues who sit as voting members on the community affairs committee.

As a senator who has sat in this chamber for almost five years now and who has often spoken in contributions on legislation about the importance of this chamber as a chamber of scrutiny, I think it is incredibly disappointing that senators came away from this inquiry process into this legislation feeling that, as a committee of the Senate and as a chamber, we weren't able to do our job in scrutinising that legislation, because we weren't provided with the opportunity by the government. As senators in this place will know well but those listening at home may not, these legislation committees are fundamentally controlled by the government. The direction that an inquiry takes is negotiated across the chamber, but the government are the voting members that have the final say. So we are now considering this legislation here today. We've had a very fulsome debate on this legislation so far, and I think that that will continue in the coming days. It is incredibly disappointing that senators weren't able to have their concerns fully addressed throughout the committee inquiry process.

The other important thing about Senate committee inquiries is that it's not just about us. Yes, we are the ones who get to come along and ask questions of various witnesses to understand the ramifications of legislation on our country, on various elements of our community, on individuals et cetera, but Senate inquiries are also a really important opportunity for members of our community to have a say on whether they think legislation needs work. When we are talking about a piece of legislation, such as we are today in relation to the NDIS, I would have thought it would go without saying that individuals and members of the community who are impacted by the legislation would be given a very fair and very fulsome opportunity to have their concerns heard by this chamber through the Community Affairs Legislation Committee.

Colleagues on the crossbench agree. We've had contributions from Greens senators today likewise saying that the inquiry process that was initiated into this legislation has not given these individuals, members of the community, NDIS participants and people impacted by this legislation the ability to have their voices heard. This is not simply something that is coming from us as the opposition; this is a concern that has been heard around the chamber. The concern is that, through the inquiry process, the community has not been able to have its say on the legislation, to make suggestions as to how the legislation could have been improved and to understand how the legislation is going to create change in the way that it fairly should, in the way that this chamber is set up to allow and in the way that I think most Australians in our democracy fairly expect. It is a good thing that this chamber is a chamber of scrutiny. It is a good thing that we, in whatever policy committee we happen to serve on, have the opportunity to take government legislation out of this building, out of this city, to the rest of the country—to consult, to ask questions and to understand the impact.