Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The motion really is related to a debate that has been extended in the House throughout this day. When I put up this notice of motion I was unaware that there would be such a symmetry. I moved:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the inequity that exists within our communities in the provision of services to people with disability;

It is an inequity that has existed for far, far too long. What we have happening in this parliament at this time is a very graphic exposure on a number of pieces of legislation right across the field, from superannuation through to disability, about what this Labor government believe in and what we are committed to doing. It is very important that for all of the talk that has been going on for many, many years, for the whole of the 12 years of a Liberal-National party government, there was nothing as visionary, as enabling, as engaging to the community as what is being proposed in this term of this Gillard Labor government.

I want to note in my speech this afternoon the high level of community engagement with the Every Australian Counts campaign for the NDIS. Particularly, I would like to mention two disabiliTEAs which were held in my electorate. The first one I attended was at Kariong. It was organised by a wonderful woman by the name of Jean Lawrie. She dipped into our community. It did not take her very long to find a very passionate advocate for fairness—which is what we really stand for in this party of mine, the Labor Party—for her son, who was disabled. Dorothea Marler gave a wonderful speech and read a poem that she wrote six years ago about the challenge and the joy of having a profoundly disabled son. Our recently elected mayor at the time, Lawrie McKinna, spoke in response to that.

We cannot but have our hearts touched by this issue. What we have to measure our politicians by is whether, when their heart is touched, they are willing to actually do the work and provide the funding to enable an appropriate response. Many platitudes can be spoken, but you have got to actually make decisions about what sort of party you are by what you actually do. This is why I am very pleased to have this motion put before the parliament this afternoon, because we absolutely on this side of the House support the notion that fairness for people who have a disability and support for families and communities caring for people with disability are things that are very much worthy of our attention and worthy of the investment of money, time and energy to bring about better outcomes.

At Kariong there were about 50 people in attendance—families, carers, disability enterprises. I want to acknowledge the great work in the community done by Derek Crawford, who emceed the event that day and is a member of our local Masonic Lodge, which gives out hundreds of thousands of dollars in our community every year. Also, of course, I acknowledge the CWA. Those great ladies were there, and they provided an outstanding morning tea.

I followed that with a visit out to Pearl Beach, a great little community with the most wonderful arboretum. Opera in the Arboretum is a great community event that happens out there. On this occasion it was to the home of Karen and Bruce Donaldson, who had 40 people in attendance to raise the issues around the National Disability Insurance Scheme and to show that community, and to show me as the federal representative, that it is time for something real and practical to happen in this space.

There has been enough time for talking. It is time now for action. The government supports the focus to improve the standard of living for people with disability in their families through the introduction of this National Disability Insurance Scheme. My community visit to a wonderful young man by the name of Samson, who lives in Narara, revealed to me just how much care there is and how much need there is for a response. Samson's father is quite a gifted man with technology and was able to create a computer program that allows his son to communicate. There were no commercial programs available that enabled him to do that. That flexibility to be able to invest in the things that are going to improve people's lives and the unique responses that are required to liberate people's ability and to diminish the disability in their ability and give them the opportunity to participate fully, are, critically, at the heart of the motion I have put through. I commend the government for introducing this legislation and I commend them for committing to 20,000 people from 1 July and enabling this visionary project to come to life. It is the end of talking and the beginning of action under a Labor government. Thank you.

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