Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to say huge congratulations to everyone who has been involved in getting the agreement signed between the Commonwealth, the Victorian and New South Wales governments to see the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There are hundreds of thousands of people with disability who will benefit from this agreement today, and I want to particularly say to those people with disability who have campaigned all their lives for this major reform: this is your day.

I also want to say a very big thank you to people in my electorate, because the National Disability Insurance Scheme is going to start in the local government areas of Banyule and Nillumbik from the middle of next year, so it will be a very exciting time for people with disability, for their families and for carers, and of course for all of the people who deliver services in our community. People I have met who are already benefiting from the National Disability Insurance Scheme tell me that for the first time they are able to say that their dreams are being met, and it is because of this extraordinary campaign by so many people with disability all around Australia that those dreams can be met. Thank you everyone who has done such a wonderful job to make it a reality.