Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is in trouble. When it was established, Australians were told it would support 'reasonable and necessary' assistance to people living with a disability. But it has got out of control. The NDIS could cost taxpayers over $100 billion a year by the next decade.

The NDIS has funded things that are anything but 'reasonable and necessary', such as music lessons, corporate box tickets, first class airline travel and even sex workers! A few years ago, it was revealed that more than 5,000 NDIS recipients were on support packages costing over a million dollars.

NDIS support isn't even means tested, but it should be. Millionaires who can easily afford care for themselves or their families are eligible for NDIS support.

Payment rates under the NDIS for various practitioners are up to three times higher than in other critical sectors like aged care, public health and veteran care. It's creating a shortage of these practitioners in these other critical areas. This is discrimination.

Equipment and contractor costs are also way over the top. This could be addressed with an NDIS card for recipients' plans, so that spending could be tracked in real time.

I have had ongoing discussions with Minister Bill Shorten and the department, to fix this mess up. I'm encouraged by his comments to restrict eligibility for minors with mild autism or developmental delay. He's right, in that there must be better support for these kids in the school system—but not in every school, as I've been saying for years. It's a start, but there's a long way to go.

One Nation supports the NDIS, but it must be made sustainable, to ensure it survives. And the way it's going now, it won't be. We can't afford where we're headed with this, and people who are on it who shouldn't be on it should be thrown off.