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

I think questions in relation to the quarterly report really are questions for estimates. Officials will be available, as they are in the normal course of events, to answer questions about the veracity. Senator Reynolds, I've listened to you and your colleagues asking questions about the assumptions that underpin those reports and the impact of the government's objectives in terms of what you would say is the credibility of the claims that the government is making in relation to moderating the growth of the scheme.

I can say that this bill is part of a process of reform that the government is undertaking that is designed to achieve a moderation in growth. I understand that, in the context of the partisan conflict around the NDIS, there are participants in that argument who want to characterise that as a cut to the NDIS. I don't think any sensible construction of a rate of growth that is at eight per cent could be characterised as a cut. I don't think it's possible to do that in a credible way.

It does mean that less will be spent by the scheme if the reforms are undertaken. That is certainly true, and that eight per cent target of moderated growth is designed to apply from 1 July 2026, consistent with what the minister has said.