Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow the member for Griffith, but I just wonder whether she brought the right speech into the House? In the 10 minutes or so that she spoke on this bill—which is, crucially, about funding the NDIS, which those opposite didn't fund when they were in government—all she did was speak about higher education. Not once in her contribution did she speak about our looking to support people with disabilities and their families to lead a better life. But that just shows what those opposite are really all about.

It's my pleasure to rise in this House today to speak in support of the government's Medicare Levy Amendment (National Disability Insurance Scheme Funding) Bill 2017 and related bills. This bill is about putting Australians with a disability and their families first, something those opposite seem to have forgotten. This is what this government cares about and it's why it is putting forward the strategy that is outlined in these bills that will see such needs met in our local communities, including in my electorate of Forde.

What a great time it is to be speaking about this bill, after celebrating National Carers Week just last week. Carers Australia organises and coordinates National Carers Week with the assistance and participation of the state and territory carer associations, and with the primary activities funded by the Department of Social Services. National Carers Week is about recognising and celebrating the outstanding contribution that Australia's estimated 2.7 million unpaid carers make to our nation each and every day.

I would like to acknowledge that carers make an enormous contribution to our local communities, as well as to our national economy. It is a contribution that cannot ever be overstated. Statistics show that, if all carers decided to stop performing their caring roles, it would cost our country some $60 billion each year to replace the work that they do. That is more than $1 billion a week, and the key message raised last week, as we know, was that anyone at any time can become a carer. This is why it's so vitally important not just to raise community awareness among all Australians about the diversity of carers and their caring roles but also to ensure that they and the people they care for are supported into the future. It is why this bill is so important, and it is why this government is committed to delivering that support.

This government has introduced legislation which seeks to bring about the full funding of its contribution to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, giving Australians with permanent significant disability and their families and carers certainty that this vital service will be there for them into the future. In the life of a disabled person and in the lives of their carers, the word 'certainty' takes on a whole new meaning. Certainty is not something that people living with a disability or their carers have experienced on a regular basis, but certainty is something that they long for. To help provide that certainty, to fully fund the NDIS and to know that the funding is there for these people at a very difficult time in their lives, the government is asking Australians to contribute, with the Medicare levy to be increased by half a percentage point, from two per cent to 2½ per cent of taxable income.

The decision will increase the Medicare levy from 1 July 2019. I think it reflects the fact that all Australians have a role to play in accordance with their capacity to ensure the NDIS is secure for future generations and to ensure that we leave our children and our grandchildren with the capability to support some of the most vulnerable in our society. The key message, as I've said, is that we're asking Australians to support this in accordance with their capacity. These changes will impact around 9.9 million taxpayers, who are estimated to pay slightly more tax in 2019-20 as a result of the decision to increase the Medicare levy. However, in 2019-20, people with income within the Medicare levy phase-in income range will continue to pay the Medicare levy at a reduced rate.

I would like to touch on and outline some of the key factors that this funding of the NDIS that we are seeking to guarantee and fully fund in this bill will cover, as outlined in the recent Productivity Commission report. It looks at funding the participants, the supports provided within the scheme for those participants, the quality of the supports received by participants, the proportion of supports in the plan that can be utilised by a participant, the price paid for those supports and the costs associated with operating the scheme. This is an investment in the lives of vulnerable Australians, and I think it is beholden on this parliament—a parliament that has provided bipartisan support for the implementation of the NDIS—to ensure that it is fully funded meet the expectations of the people who will be covered by the NDIS. This is where those opposite let down the people of Australia, because they never, ever fully funded the NDIS. When we look at families who require this support and assistance, we need to be able to tell them that those supports will be there when they need and require them.

It is important to remember that people will be paying the increased Medicare levy but the conditions of the levy won't change. There will still be those on lower incomes who will continue to not pay the Medicare levy or to pay a reduced rate of the Medicare levy, and there will still be the full range of exemptions that currently exist. In increasing the Medicare levy, we are not seeking to include people who are currently exempt from paying it. We are not asking people to give more than they can give, but it is important to ensure that the NDIS is fully funded once and for all. That is the responsibility that this government, through these bills, is taking. It is about ensuring that the government is protecting the essential disability supports that Australians rely upon. With this bill, the government is providing certainty—certainty for people with a disability, certainty for their families and carers and certainty to all Australians who may find themselves in a situation that requires these services—that the National Disability Insurance Scheme is fully funded for the long term. I'd like to say today that in these measures, which I fully support and commend to the House, we are giving Australians with a disability, and their families and carers, that certainty that they so desperately need.

This is always about people—in this case some 460,000 Australians who are living with disabilities and their families, because in each and every case there is a person. That is why this bill is so important and why it is so important that it receive the bipartisan support in this place that the NDIS has received to date. I call on those opposite to honour their commitments to fully fund the NDIS and to step up to the plate and support this bill. I commend the bill to the House.

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