Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

The figures that you've advanced, Senator Hanson, are almost five years old. I'm not in a position to verify those figures, but let's assume that they are correct. We know that participation in the scheme has increased over time, and the provision of necessary services that are provided to participants in the scheme does not get less expensive over time; it becomes more expensive over time. So, if those numbers—of over half a million dollars or over a million dollars—in relation to services that are provided are correct, I'd be very surprised if those numbers had got smaller over time.

But I want to be really clear about the government's intention here. It is the government's approach here to moderate the growth of the scheme. I heard some pretty unhelpful language earlier in the second reading debate about cuts to the scheme. There will be no cuts to the scheme. What is apprehended here is moderating the growth of the scheme. That is a sensible objective that I think most Australians would support. But it's also the case that people who access very expensive services from the scheme need those services, and they should not feel any sense of opprobrium from us about their genuine requirement for those kinds of services. Some of the people who access the scheme have very complex needs, and some of the kinds of supports that they are offered cost more than others. So all of this is being balanced by the government in terms of its approach.

I think most Australians would expect that the cost of this scheme is going to increase over time. Most Australians want to see the cost of the scheme and its growth be moderated over time to ensure that the scheme is sustainable for our kids, our grandkids and our great-grandkids. That is the task of the minister, of the government and, ultimately, of this parliament. Most people want to see the scheme and its processes be fair and for a balance of processes to be struck so that the agency can fulfil its function properly and in the way that most Australians would expect it to—to provide the kinds of services that most Australians would want their kids or grandkids to have today and into the future.