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

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is a complete shambles at the moment, on Labor's watch, and something must be done to restore and fix this broken system. It is one of the most important things that we, as a parliament, do: to look after our most vulnerable people. But we are letting them down. The Labor government stands condemned for its new pricing payment system which came into effect on 1 July. This affects NDIS providers and clients, particularly in regional Australia.

There's no point writing to the Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the member for Hindmarsh. You'll get a letter back from his chief of staff. I should not know his chief of staff's name but he's the only one I ever get a letter from when I write to the minister's office, and that is a disgrace. Write instead, if you are a member of parliament, to Senator Jenny McAllister. She will at least respond, and I've at least got some faith in her ability to fix any issue which I take to her. That is a great shame and it's on the minister's head.

But don't just take my word when I say that the NDIS is in a mess. Take the words from constituents of mine, such as Patricia Veney and her son Michael. He is 34, and they live in Cowra. She says, 'I believe this scheme was introduced to help people who need it, with "choice and control" and "reasonable and necessary". They have taken choice away, leaving us with no control, and it is not reasonable and necessary.' She says that living in rural and remote areas of Australia presents unique challenges, particularly for people with disabilities who rely on the NDIS. But when you've got the travel component being virtually taken away from people who are our most vulnerable, it is going to leave them without allied health help—without podiatry, without speech therapy, without physiotherapy. It's simply not good enough in this day and age.

Take Diana Martin and her son Grant Cain. He's 43. He lives in a group home in Cowra as well. Grant's occupational therapist has contacted Diana to say that they can't work with Grant anymore because the NDIS has cut funding for travel. It's simply not good enough.

These people need our help. These people were getting our help, and these people have been taken off that help by the Labor government—a Labor government which does not care about regional Australia. It's simply not good enough. They should be caring at least for those vulnerable people who live in regional Australia who can't help themselves. These people are suffering. They have disabilities and they've had their help stripped away because of the selfishness of, and the cruel and callous contempt that they have been shown by, this government. It's simply not good enough. Regional people are demanding better. They are demanding that people who have disabilities should be looked after.

Georgie Butt, a sole trader, of Teach Me Speech speech pathology, looks after the towns of Cootamundra, Harden and Temora. She says, 'My entire speech pathology service is delivered via mobile therapy, with each client requiring me to travel at least 27 to 67 kilometres, which is between 30 minutes to an hour travel.' And she says: 'Due to recent NDIS travel price cuts, I've had to absorb 50 per cent of travel costs. If I stop travelling to clients, I would have no clients as my service relies entirely on reaching families in their communities.' So either she absorbs the costs, or she doesn't go to help the people who need treatment as she's done in the past. Georgie is very good at what she does.

Then we have Donalee Gregory, a director and physiotherapist at Kids I Can in Wagga Wagga. She too has been left high and dry. 'These changes will have a significant impact in regional areas where providers often travel large distances to support their clients. We value the impact of supporting children in their natural environments and have continued to provide these supports'—that's what she says. But they can't keep providing the supports if it's going to cruel their business. It's not only cruelling their business; it's cruelling those people who rely on the support: Australia's most vulnerable people who live in rural, regional and remote Australia. And it's on Labor's watch. They've turned a blind eye to those people. Shame on them.

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