Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to this important debate in relation to the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I would like to endorse all of the comments made by my Greens parliamentary colleagues. Senator McKim has moved an amendment to the second reading motion which would refer the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024, and the amendments to the bill circulated by the government, to a further inquiry. This is absolutely essential because this is an important piece of legislation and yet the government has dumped on the table a whole list of new amendments which the previous, very short running inquiry was not able to consider. We need to know what the impacts on our own home states of these amendments are going to be. That is why we also want to ensure that an inquiry will consider the responses and the positions of each of the states and territories around the country. That is absolutely fundamental. In my home state of South Australia, the state government will be looking at this and wondering where they fit in. South Australians want to know where they fit in. In fact, Australians right around the country want to know, if the government is going to put a big wrecking ball through the NDIS, what is going to be left for them. Who is going to pick up the pieces? What does this actually mean for the future?

This is an important scheme. It's a scheme that gives dignity to millions of Australians because they either live with a disability or have a loved one who is living with a disability. They need to be supported. They shouldn't have to beg and scrape and cry out for the support they need. It is absolutely important that we get this right.

The committee that previously examined this piece of legislation actually wanted to conduct further investigation. But, of course, because the government controls legislative committees in this current system, the government didn't want to have a further enquiry so they shut it down, and now they are trying to ram this bill through today. I urge the government to allow the committee process, the Senate process, to do its job properly. Over the winter break, we will ensure that we look carefully at this legislation. We will call the right witnesses from states and territories, we will look at the implications and impacts of the government amendments, and we will consider whether this is fit for purpose and whether this is the right way to go.

At the moment, what we know is that this legislation has been rushed and that it does not have the support of even states and territories at this point in time. That does not bode well for vulnerable Australians who are living with a disability or who have a loved one who has a disability. They are going to be left in the lurch. So we can't support the government's amendment to their referral date. Next Wednesday is a joke, frankly. We need to make sure we have the winter break. We call it a 'break' but, actually, our senators—particularly Senator Steele-John—will be working his backside off on this issue, because it is important. He won't be having a break over winter. He will be working hard to get into the detail of this legislation.