Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to rise the mark International Day of People with Disability, which is tomorrow. International Day of People with Disability is a day when we celebrate the achievements of people with a disability and aim to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of people with a disability. Since 1996 the Australian government has been proud to provide funds to support, promote and raise awareness of this day around Australia. We have 4.5 million Australians living with a disability. That's one in five people, and many are doing remarkable things. I'd like to pay tribute to the local groups in the Ryan electorate who are working with those who have a disability and are doing tremendous and caring work.

In particular there is the Glenleighden School, which I have had a long association with. It is a local school for which people travel from around Australia in order to enrol their children who have a language or learning disability. Thanks to the specialised support of the Glenleighden School, many are often able to transition into general schools as they advance through the age groups. At the very least, many of them are talking and communicating with their families and friends far better than would otherwise have been the case without the work of those dedicated people at the school. For parents who have children with language disorder, simply to have a child who is able to communicate with them without getting too frustrated is an enormous thing for their lives.

I'd like to pay tribute to another group, Claire's Cottage, which operates in Ferny Grove in my electorate. I was able to meet Claire recently. She's the mum of twin daughters with cerebral palsy. Her daughters have long grown up, but she has a passion for looking after people with a disability. Indeed, she saw cracks in the system at the time that her girls were coming through and it led her to create something called Claire's Cottage. It is a residential support place in my electorate which allows participants with a disability to sleep over in what is otherwise a normal residential home and they learn important life skills to gain independence in order to live and sleep out of home. I congratulate these two organisations, but there are others in Ryan that are doing tremendous work.

Something that is also close to my heart and the heart of all Queenslanders is the State of Origin. For the last five years, a fiercely competitive State of Origin battle has been playing out on a 60-metre indoor court, and that is the NRL Wheelchair State of Origin. The Queensland team is made up of players from across the state, including Townsville, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Ipswich and my home town of Brisbane. Unfortunately, New South Wales seems to have had the edge on us until now, but I know that 2020 will be our year. I just want to highlight this event. Wouldn't it be great if it were followed with the same vigour and passion as the traditional State of Origin? We will only get to that point through advocacy days like the one we are having tomorrow and through the great work that our communities do in promoting the day, promoting people like these athletes and promoting their achievements. We have some amazing stories of what people with disabilities are achieving. It's only through the kinds of days that we will have tomorrow that we will see significant improvements.

The life expectancy of Australians born with, for example, Down syndrome has more than tripled in the four decades to 2002, increasing from 18 years to 60 years. A significant contributing factor to this positive outcome is a shift in public attitude, no doubt down to days like we will have tomorrow. We're also continuing to see higher rates of participation in education of children with disabilities and children are staying in school longer. The Morrison government wants to see all Australians with a disability live life to their full potential, participate in our community, get a job if able and have greater independence. That's what we are working on delivering with the NDIS, a national endeavour that is changing lives. The NDIS quarterly report, which was recently released, shows real progress is being made. There are now 310,000 participants with an NDIS plan, including 114,000 participants who are receiving specialist disability support for the very first time. I congratulate Minister Roberts on his part of the work in rolling out the NDIS and seeing it making a positive contribution in the lives Australians with a disability.

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