Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Robertson for putting forward this motion about the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I agree with her that it is enabling legislation. It will provide great opportunities for those families with somebody who has a disability.

I do not like the tone arising out of the fact that the government is trying to politicise the National Disability Insurance Scheme by always making out as if the coalition does not care and does not support this particular piece of legislation. We do not like, on this side of the House, this particular piece of legislation being politicised. It is something which has bipartisan support. The time for a National Disability Insurance Scheme has well and truly arrived, as the member for Robertson quite correctly pointed out.

People living with a disability, their families and carers have struggled to receive the support services they desperately require. An NDIS will give them the fair, efficient and equitable system they deserve. I was the first federal parliamentarian to sign up to the Every Australian Counts campaign in New South Wales, a campaign which highlights the need for an NDIS, something of which I needed no convincing. If ever something required bipartisan support, this is it. The coalition believes that full implementation of the NDIS will be nothing short of a new deal for people with disabilities and for their carers—those absolutely selfless, important people who do so much to improve the lives and wellbeing of close family members with a disability. The coalition is committed to working with the government and has called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee, to be chaired by both sides of politics, to oversee the establishment and implementation of the NDIS—a call reiterated by the Leader of the Opposition in his speech to the National Press Club on 31 January 2013.

The number of people with a disability will increase significantly over the next 20 years. As this number rises, the number of people willing and able to care for these disabled people will, sadly, decline. The NDIS will help to ensure that there will be support for those who desperately require it, even if they do not have family to assist them. It is important that the NDIS focuses on early intervention and identifying support services which are most effective and efficient and will maximise the potential in those with a disability and help to facilitate their independence. Providing disabled people with what they need, when they need it, will help to reduce pressure on families and allow easier participation for the disabled in work, life, and the community. It will offer their families much needed respite.

The NDIS will also provide for a person no matter how their disability was acquired and it will ensure assistance for those who may require it in the future, as well as those who already do. The creation of the NDIS is a complete reform of current disability provisions. It will ensure the new system is fairer than what is currently in place. Principal beneficiaries will be those whose disability has an impact on their daily life. This is our opportunity to get things right and bring in a safety net for those with a disability in the same way Medicare and compulsory superannuation have reformed society in the past and are now something we all take for granted.

The NDIS is an investment in Australia's future and, particularly for those whose lives will depend on the scheme, it is important that a long-term funding commitment is made to the scheme to ensure it is established properly and can go the distance. If funded correctly and adequately, the NDIS will ensure that Australia can meet the current and future needs of those with disability, no matter what the current economic climate may be.

I know the importance of an NDIS to so many people throughout Australia, but especially the people in the Riverina who have come to me to outline their situation, such as Carol and Chris Harmer of Wagga Wagga, who know all too well the need for an NDIS. Two of their three children, Emily who is 20 and Tom who is 16, have Phelan McDermid syndrome, a rare condition with approximately only 600 people affected worldwide. The Harmers have high hopes for the support and services the NDIS would offer them and their children, as well as others in similar circumstances. Mrs Pat Thomas of Temora cares for her son Richard who has a disability. She established the Special Persons and Carers Group of Temora to provide support for those with a disability and their carers. To see her lifelong work supported by an initiative such as the NDIS means so much to her, knowing there will be the necessary support for those with disabilities once their elderly parents can no longer look after them.

Every Australian has the right to know there will be support for them or their loved ones if a disability is acquired. We have the opportunity to work together as the parliament to get this system right for those who have waited so patiently for it. We owe it to them to give them a system which is fair, equitable and efficient. I commend the bill.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak wholeheartedly in support of the member for Robertson who put forward this motion. I have spent the last two years actively campaigning to raise awareness for the NDIS, which is essentially a once-in-a-lifetime reform. I understand why a national disability insurance scheme is so important, because I have taken a lot of time to listen to local members of my community. I have worked closely with James O'Brien, who is a tireless advocate for people with disabilities. I have been listening to families right across the electorate and have hosted many discussions and morning and afternoon teas in my electorate, in places like Gisborne, Doreen, Sunbury and Seymour. I have attended DisabiliTEAs and met with countless individuals, families and local organisations and I know how anxious they are to see a scheme implemented.

To me, an NDIS means dignity, freedom and choice for people and their families—not just for those in my electorate but Australia-wide. Having a family member who has disabilities, I know just how hard it can be from day to day, whether it is arranging carers, getting access to respite or just wanting to give your child every opportunity to lead a fulfilling life. Can you imagine what it is like to sit around the family table and have to grapple with the daily decision about what help you can afford to provide for your child and having to repeatedly dip into your mortgage or savings to help provide basic care? Can you imagine having to travel weekly for many hours each way just to access speech therapy and physiotherapy? Catherine has to do this with her gorgeous six-year-old daughter, Kristen. Catherine had this to say:

For our family, NDIS will mean that Kristen can be supported to actively participate in as many spheres of community life as she chooses. I want my daughter to be able to be supported in the choices that she wants to make; whether it be living independently when she's an adult or having the ability to continue her education and have a career to make a contribution to society.

NDIS can work both ways because it means people can be part of the economy if the right investment is made to support them at crucial stages of their lives.

Those are very powerful words indeed. Can you imagine hoping to outlive your child because you do not know what help there will be for them once you are gone? As Janice told me regarding her 21-year-old son Jake:

Your involvement has been very welcomed and I can't thankyou … enough for taking seriously how important … funding will be for Jake. It will allow us to build a good life for him, full of opportunity, life experiences, and independent living skills and help him live a full and meaningful life. This will all take time, but I feel confident with the right supports in place he will grow and mature.

Those are the day-to-day struggles that families face trying to do what any parent would do: give their child every opportunity that they can.

I am extremely proud to be part of a government that gets what an NDIS means. With its needs based approach, it changes the concept from a charity approach to one centred on the individual, allowing people to choose the services that they need and want. You would hope that the NDIS would receive bipartisan support, but it comes with mixed messages from the coalition. The opposition leader, Tony Abbott, when he attended an NDIS rally in Perth, said:

When it comes to the NDIS, I am Dr Yes.

And, no, he did not actually write that down! We then had the shadow Treasurer telling the National Press Club that, while he supports an NDIS in principle, he will not promise to fund it. So those opposite are happy to pose for photos, they are happy to tell people what they want to hear, but they always add the traditional LNP out clause.

It is also time the Victorian Premier got off his hands and signed up to this. From leading the states in disability services, in only two years Victoria has gone to having a waiting list of 3,600 people seeking urgent support. It is not good enough. A lot of the work that went into building support for people with disabilities has now gone, and it is not fair for those who live with disability every day of their life. This situation, as with that of Catherine, who has to travel from one side of the city to the other to get access to speech therapy, is not fair. It is not right that she has to do this in her day-to-day life.

Without true bipartisan support from all levels of government, this once-in-a-lifetime reform will not get the support it deserves, which is to have all of us working together for the best outcomes for people with disabilities.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to contribute to this private member's motion on the NDIS. I support the motion. As I discussed last week when I spoke in the House on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012, the NDIS is not a partisan political issue. Both sides of this chamber have committed to the implementation of the NDIS. No matter who wins the election later on this year, an NDIS will be implemented.

Unfortunately, I think the Labor Party desperately want to turn this issue into a political football, and we have seen the games being played with coalition state governments in recent times. However, their politicking will not work, because the coalition is absolutely committed to an NDIS. I passionately believe in a National Disability Insurance Scheme because as a Liberal I really believe that the core of government is to help those who cannot help themselves. I think both sides of this house would agree that there are people with a disability and parents and carers of people with a disability who do not have the same opportunities and freedoms that many others enjoy. This motion acknowledges that inequality that exists within our communities in the provision of services to people with a disability, and that is a very important point.

On 30 January, I and the shadow minister for seniors, the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop, hosted a seniors forum. One of the attendees told a very heartfelt story of being the carer for her elderly and disabled mother. She said that as a full-time carer she does not get a holiday, she does not get a break—all she gets is a carers pension. On the very rare occasion when she can get away, she has to put her mother in respite care. She said that because she has been out of the workforce for so long looking after her mother she will have trouble finding a job back in the private sector. She said that, not because she is not capable but because she has not worked for a while, employers will be reluctant to hire her. So this motion is absolutely correct when it recognises the inequality that exists in the provision of disability services.

I am also very glad that this motion notes the Every Australian Counts campaign. I want to acknowledge the fantastic work that is being done in Queensland by Fiona Anderson. They run an absolutely superb public advocacy campaign for NDIS. They have done it in a nonpartisan, genuine way, and I congratulate them for that. As I mentioned in the House last week, I had the privilege of addressing the Every Australian Counts rally in King George Square in the Brisbane CBD on 30 April. I addressed the rally, along with Senator Jan McLucas and Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale, and reaffirmed the coalition's commitment to an NDIS. I was privileged to meet some remarkable individuals there. I want to acknowledge the advocacy of Fiona Anderson, who has worked day and night to raise awareness in the community of the need for an NDIS and lobbied politicians of all persuasions to support it. I also want to acknowledge the Every Australian Counts campaign's Queensland NDIS Steering Group, which consists of people like David Barbagallo, Debra Cottrell, Angela Tillmanns, Francis Vicary, Bruce Milligan, Len Airey, Jane Geltch, Judy Dickson,Valmae Rose, Frank Martin, Anna Cox, Evan Munroe and, of course, the most energetic leader of them all, Fiona Anderson. I want to thank them for their service and dedication. I also want to thank Every Australian Counts for organising all of the DisabiliTEA events in Brisbane that I was fortunate enough to attend, particularly the group who met at New Farm. I got to hear firsthand many heartbreaking stories about how difficult it is to access the myriad services available and how hard parents have to fight to get services at all.

In conclusion, I want to thank the Queensland government for their commitment to increase disability funding to help fund an NDIS. The Labor government should stop trying to politicise the NDIS. It is an initiative that the coalition supports. The NDIS is something I passionately believe in. I will fight for my constituents in Brisbane and I will make sure that it is a reality. I thank the chamber.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Robertson on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Before I do so I would like to return to some of the comments made by the member for Brisbane because she sits in this chamber as a member from Queensland. I am here with the member for Blair, who is also a member from Queensland. We heard that speech. It was a classic example of the political football that is being played here, but it was more of an effort by a magician. The reality is that people with disabilities in Queensland get $7 spent on them. Compare that to those in Victoria who get $10 spent on them. We are starting behind the eight ball already before the NDIS kicks off. We have seen hard-hearted Premier Campbell Newman commit not one dollar. When we had a chance to have a trial scheme in Queensland, which would not have cost anything—certainly, significantly less than the cost of the new racetrack at the Gold Coast.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Five million dollars.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It would have cost $5 million. They have money for new offices in the middle of Brisbane—we all know that the state politicians are in dire circumstances—but there is not enough for a trial scheme. I am sick and tired of hearing those opposite say that we are trying to make political capital out of the NDIS when the reality is that we in the Labor Party are committed to putting dollars forward, not just supporting it in principle. It is like their comments on education. The reality is we need to do a lot more. I am glad the member for Blair is here because he sat alongside me as a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs when we did the Access all areas report. That made the scales fall from my eyes about some of the challenges—

Mr Neumann interjecting—

Yes. I thought I was reasonably sympathetic but, until I actually heard the day-to-day horrors and about how something as simple as accessing buildings can interfere with your life, I had not fully understood some of the challenges that people with disabilities have.

It is easy to say you support the NDIS and be photographed with Everybody Counts et cetera, but the reality is it is what you do. We have seen the Premier and the Liberal-National Party in Queensland do absolutely nothing. To be lectured by the member for Brisbane and told that it is all one happy family and this is bipartisan is ridiculous and totally misleading.

I mentioned the Access all areas report because that was when I first had a lot to do with Minister Shorten, who was Parliamentary Secretary Shorten at the time. He is to be commended for having so much to do with making the NDIS a national program and a national goal. He has done so much to raise awareness. It could be said that, when he received that portfolio, he was also not fully aware of the challenges that people with disabilities have but, once he was aware, he became incredibly passionate about it.

Then we move forward to when the Productivity Commission reported and showed the areas of unmet need for families and carers. We hear stories in our electorate offices all the time. Obviously, the way to respond is by working with the state governments. That is the reality: we have a federation and we must work with state governments when it comes to implementing these improvements to people's lives.

Whilst state governments do not actually provide a significant number of services, it is the NGOs that roll out most of the programs with federal money. That is the reality. It is going to be a process where we work with the NGOs to make sure that we can improve people's lives. I have already seen it, and I am proud to be able to say that one of my organisations—Multicap at Eight Mile Plains—has already stepped up, whilst the state government has not stepped up, in terms of the NDIS trial sites. I am glad to say that some NGOs in Queensland have seen the opportunities that are there and have stepped up to make sure that they can participate. I have had meetings with so many of my peak disability bodies or those who interact with people with disabilities, such as Westside Community Services at Kyabra, MontroseAccess, Contact Incorporated, the Spinal Injuries Association—there are so many of them—and they are looking forward to the changes that will take place in the months and weeks ahead as real money goes into this scheme.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The NDIS is a Labor initiative. It is a Labor program, a Labor policy and Labor will get it done. On 26 October I was proud to hold a DisabiliTEA event in the Ipswich community at the Brassall Shopping Centre to make sure that we raised awareness amongst the Ipswich and West Moreton region about the need for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I spoke on 10 October 2012 at the care aware fair, run by Carers Queensland as part of their 2012 Carers Week to recognise the 4,300 carers in the Ipswich and Somerset region of Blair. We know that one in eight Australians provide care to family members and friends who have a disability—a mental or terminal illness or a chronic condition—or who are simply frail. By mid-2013 we will see more than 20,000 Australians with a disability and their carers and family friends really benefitting from the first stage of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Every year I hold a Blair Disability Links expo in the Brassall Shopping Centre in Ipswich. This year we had 30 storeholders and at least 500 visitors. I thank many people who supported that event. Every year I relaunch the Blair Disability Links information kit, which gets bigger every year, with local organisations such as CATS, Focal Extended, ALARA and others. Contributors to that vied for local people to get access to help, information, guidance and funding.

There are a couple of people who were present, particularly, at the Blair Disability Links event that we had in December. Apart from Peter and Linda Tully, whom I have talked about before, and Debbie Chilton, there was a fellow by the name of Neil Moorhead. Mr Moorhead had given up full-time work after being diagnosed with a kidney disorder and found it difficult to adjust to his changed lifestyle. He spoke at that event passionately and movingly about how he managed to handle his disability and study full time. He had spoken to Centrelink and was surprised by the number of support options and services available. He spoke in support of a national disability insurance scheme, as did other people who were there. It was a great day and there was great enthusiasm for this scheme.

The tragedy and the shame of all of this is that how we spend our money at a state and federal level shows our values, our ethics and our priorities. During the nearly 12 years of the Howard coalition government, despite the words of those opposite, there was inaction. The support for disability services during the time of the Howard coalition government grew by less than the rate of inflation—1.8 per cent. In reality, we could have a National Disability Insurance Scheme launch site in Queensland but for the wrong choices, wrong values and wrong priorities of Campbell Newman and the LNP state government. They did not even have the grace and humility to come with a proper proposal to the Council of Australian Governments when even the Liberal governments of New South Wales and Victoria came with detailed proposals for a launch site. A 1½ page scribbled note about Gympie being a possibility for a launch site is not a genuine proposal.

The reality is that for Queenslanders it would mean simply $62.50 for every person with a disability in Queensland if Campbell Newman and LNP government contributed to a launch site. Eighty thousand Queenslanders are missing out, and, sadly, the current rate of funding per capita in Queensland is much lower than every other state, particularly Victoria. In Queensland the current rate is $5,830 per capita compared to Victoria's $8,378 per capita. This is not just a matter of social justice; it is also a matter of economic responsibility. It is just simply important that we support a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The truth is that those opposite mouth words but have not put up one dollar towards a National Disability Insurance Scheme, and even now cannot say how they would fund it. The thing is that those opposite can talk the talk but have never walked the walk. I believe that when it comes to a National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Liberals, who have had different views on this, no matter which particular spokesman, are disingenuous, deceptive and disheartening to those who are really facing the challenges of disability. The truth is those opposite oppose the National Disability Insurance Scheme, despite the words they offer.

Debate adjourned.