Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to make a brief contribution it to the bill before us today, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024. For the past three days this week we've heard all the different ways in which those opposite want to stop the NDIS getting back on track. The bill that we're debating here in the Senate is one of the most important bills currently before us. The legislation that it underpins is also some of the most comprehensively consulted on in the Commonwealth's history.

The bill will ensure that the NDIS is here for many future generations and for all Australians who need it most. What those opposite have suggested this week is nothing more than time-wasting politicisation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It's also amazing to see the contributions by some in this place when it comes to taxpayers' money being wasted. The unholy alliance that is now developing between the Liberals and the Greens senators will cost Australians almost $1.1 billion in paying for an unnecessary two-month delay to vital NDIS legislation. At the same time as this costly delay, the Liberals and the Greens members of the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee have also made plans to visit Brazil and the Americas. The only way in which I can describe this is that it's a two-week junket, to be frank.

It is just amazing to see the attitudes of senators in this place—