Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Medicare Levy Amendment (National Disability Insurance Scheme Funding) Bill 2017 and 10 related bills. I thank the member for Dunkley for his contribution. I hear constantly how we on this side should do this and we should be bipartisan. But then I hear those opposite tell us how we think and feel about the NDIS. It is a shameful moment when those opposite use the NDIS as a political football.

I rise to speak on this because, sadly, this government continues to shamefully use people with a disability and the NDIS as a political tool rather than a tool for increased care and equality for Australians with a disability. Labor funded the NDIS while we were in government. This was outlined in the 2013-14 budget, which was a time when I wasn't here. The government's assertion that Labor did not fully fund the NDIS is complete rubbish. Labor has funded it, continues to support it and is committed to continuing the NDIS rollout. I'm proudly a member of the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS and I have spent many, many hours travelling and taking evidence about the NDIS from people right across this country, and it is quite disgraceful for those opposite to make those comments.

The fact is that the previous Labor government's 2013-14 budget clearly set out how the NDIS would be funded for 10 years, far exceeding the transition period to the fully functioning scheme. The Labor government put forward a suite of savings and revenue measures which paid for the NDIS well beyond that transition phase. Sadly, there has been mismanagement of the savings measures we put in place and continue to put in place, including giving $65 billion in corporate welfare in the form of tax breaks. Some of the measures we put in place to fund the NDIS included the phase out of the net medical expense tax offset and reforms to the retirement income schemes, the private health insurance rebate and tobacco indexation.

The NDIS should not be used as a political football. This government now says that it can fund a $65 billion corporate tax cut but does not have enough money to support the NDIS. What we always see from the Turnbull government are cuts, cuts and more cuts to those who can least afford them and gifts and handouts to the top end of town, and now the Turnbull government wants to increase the Medicare levy. A worker on $85,000 will be worse off by $200 a year. We have an alternative plan, which the member for Sydney went through in quite some depth earlier, so I won't go back through it. We would see the Medicare levy increase for individuals earning more than $87,000 a year and we would keep the deficit levy on those earning incomes of more than $180,000 a year. Those people may not like it, but it is a much fairer system for everybody.

Let's remind ourselves what the NDIS was intended to do: provide support to around half a million Australians with a disability, their families and carers. The NDIS has a broader role in helping people with a disability to access mainstream services such as health, housing and education; access community services such as sports and libraries; and maintain informal supports such as family and friends. I don't see anywhere in the NDIS's charter or purpose the desire to make people who are receiving help from the NDIS feel like a political handball or a burden or feel that their own government cannot prioritise their need over the giving of $65 billion in corporate welfare to big business.

Australia cannot afford to stumble on the implementation of the NDIS. It is indeed groundbreaking. It makes a real difference and creates better outcomes in people's lives—and I should know. The Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner has said:

Yes—the NDIS is big, it is complex, and it changes everything, but it is the change that we need. And when we think about what life might be like for people with disability without the NDIS, I think it becomes clear that it is the change we cannot afford to prevent.

…   …   …

If we want real and lasting change for people with disability, we cannot absolve ourselves of our responsibility to make the NDIS work.

As a National Disability Services report states:

The principles on which the NDIS is founded remain compelling and inspiring.

Australia cannot afford to fall down on the implementation of the NDIS or quibble over political point-scoring over who did what or when.

Labor has confirmed that a Labor government would continue to fund the NDIS. So, apparently, has the coalition. It is a lie—an outright lie—to say that Labor will not fund the NDIS, and shame on those opposite in any position of power who mutter those words. It is a lie that is scaring people with a disability and their carers. Bilateral agreements with states and territories prove that long-term commitments are in place. Labor is 100 per cent committed to the NDIS rollout. And this government is scaremongering yet again.

In the Productivity Commission's report, they acknowledged the level of commitment to the NDIS is extraordinary. To the Productivity Commission, the New South Wales Council for Intellectual Disability has stated:

… we have been strong supporters of the development of the NDIS and we continue to see scheme as having a fundamental capacity to improve the lives of people with disability around Australia.

And the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations emphasised their 'unwavering support' for the NDIS, saying that AFDO and its members:

… regularly hear from people with disability and their families about the difference the scheme is making to their lives. People … now have the dignity of appropriate and timely support, the opportunity to be more involved in their communities, the chance to move out of home, the economic freedom of a new job.

These are the kinds of differences the NDIS is making. It is important to keep in mind that the NDIS is making real differences in people's lives and real changes that benefit everybody in our community.

The Productivity Commission again has found that the National Disability Insurance Scheme, at the end of the trial, 'came in under budget'. Based on trial and transition data, scheme costs, it said, 'are broadly on track' compared to the National Disability Insurance Agency's long-term modelling. At this stage, early cost pressures, such as greater than expected numbers of children in the scheme, are being more than offset by lower than expected levels of utilisation.

That is not to say that the NDIS is without creases that need to be ironed out. We all want to see the NDIS fully operational. The NDIS is a program that is close to my heart. In fact, I think it's the greatest example of government providing dignity and protection to its citizens. That's why I will defend it to its end. And full disclosure: I was an early supporter and advocate of the NDIS; I rallied about it; I held my first placard. And my son—who today turns 11—is the beneficiary of it. And I'll shout out a 'Happy birthday!' to my little boy who's 11, who has had his fair share of challenges and triumphs over the disability that he was born with.

Fundamentally though, the NDIS is a once-in-a-lifetime, generational reform package that must be defended. In my own electorate, Afford is a dedicated team of experts in disability support that has operated for more than 65 years. It offers a broad range of support, including community support, shared living, supported and open employment, respite, transition to work, Club Afford social club, Afford Getaways and support coordination.

Let me tell you about one of their clients, who we'll call Dean, who's from Penrith. Finding a place to call home where he was able to live the life he wanted on his own terms was very important to Dean. Prior to the NDIS, Dean's living arrangements placed many restrictions on his freedoms and limited Dean's ability to pursue his own life goals. The inflexibility of the old block funding model made it very difficult for Dean to pursue alternative housing arrangements, as his funding was essentially locked in with one support provider only. After receiving his NDIS plan, Dean was able to take control over the supports he received in a way that he was never able to do under the old model. In December 2016, Dean was able to move out of the group home he was unhappy with and into a new, purpose-built, group home. By all accounts, Dean was instantly transformed into a new man and has continued to flourish ever since. In his new home he was able to do the little things that so many of us take for granted. He was able to choose his own meals, come and go when he pleased, enjoy the outdoors on his own terms, and manage his own mail and money—little things that were out of the question with his old service provider. Dean values being able to have a say in the furniture and routines of the home and continues to develop his independent living skills.

I know firsthand the difference the NDIS can make to the lives of people with a disability and their families. Let me also tell you about Chris. He was born without a disability. He was challenged by a spinal cord injury 38 years ago. Since then, Chris has been determined to remain independent and live on his own. In April last year, he had a setback to his independence and ended up in Royal North Shore Hospital for an extended period of time. He developed major sores, which required extensive surgery. Although he had his NDIS plan, he was unable to leave hospital due to inadequate support. He missed spending Christmas and his birthday at home with his family and began to suffer social isolation. During his time in hospital, three service providers tried to assist Chris, but all three ended their support agreements with him and explained that his case was simply too difficult for them to support. Within two weeks, Afford's NDIS planning specialist arranged in-home staffing and for extensive home modifications to be carried out at Chris's home, including the installation of a hoist, a sling and a suitable bed and mattress. Earlier this year, he was able to return to his home. Prior to the NDIS, if Chris's service provider was not adequately assisting him, it would have been a very, very difficult process for him to apply to be supported by another. Under the NDIS, Chris was able to shop around, speak to and find a service provider with a genuine interest and ability in supporting him back to his home environment.

These people are inspirational. The government should wake up to itself and concentrate on making the NDIS a success rather than taking every opportunity to undermine its future. That is what Australians voted for and that is what they expect. In a dissenting committee report by Labor senators, Labor mentioned—and previous speakers talked about this—the alternative proposal to this bill which would increase the Medicare levy for individuals earning more than $87,000 a year and keep the deficit levy on income earners who are earning more than $180,000. This plan would see the budget bottom line better off over the medium term by $4 billion.

Associate Professor Ben Phillips also give evidence that showed that twice as many households would be worse off under the Turnbull government's plan as opposed to Labor's plan. In addition, Mr Phillips indicated that the Turnbull government's plan might have an adverse impact on workforce participation rates for those on low and middle incomes, relative to Labor's plan. The Parliamentary Budget Office showed that middle-income Australians would be worse off under the government's policy due to their commitment to increase the Medicare levy on middle- and low-income earners.

We often hear how the government calls on bipartisan support. By opposing this measure, we are not saying that we don't want too support the NDIS; we are saying that we should do it in a way that is fair and sustainable. The measures that we've outlined in our amendments and those that we seek for this government to adopt make it fairer for everybody and ensure that the NDIS continues to be the scheme that was envisioned: a scheme that actually helps people. Currently, we have a government that wants to play political football. They accuse us of not wanting to fund the NDIS, which is completely untrue. I am proud to stand up here and to always advocate for a good, strong, solid, working NDIS for every one of those half a million Australians around this country who rely on it—as well as their families and their carers who depend on it—especially after families and carers have left.

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