Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hunter for his question—a positive question from the government side of the parliament, not one positive question in the whole of question time from those opposite. They say they do not want to throw any mud, but all they can do day after day is throw mud—not one question from the Leader of the Opposition, not one question on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Leave it to the government to make sure that people with disability no longer have to wait at the end of a phone for a respite place. No wonder they are ashamed and never ask a question about disability, because they are the people who never, ever come here and raise the issues that confront people with disability and their carers every single day.

This government is proud of what we have done for people with disability. Of course, it is this government that made sure that we increased the Disability Support Pension, increased the carer payment, made sure that services are available for children with autism and made sure that people who are desperately looking for a supported accommodation place can actually get a better chance of looking for one. It has been up to this government to deliver all of these changes for disability—never done by any of those opposite.

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