Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, belated congratulations on your elevation. The last two years have particularly impacted children and young people throughout my electorate, whose school and extracurricular activities have been severely curtailed. As 2021 draws to a close, I want to thank all the school leaders, teachers and students, and their families, across Fraser for doing so much to support the learning and development of our young people in such difficult circumstances.

I'm delighted to recognise more recent winners of the Fraser Primary School Leadership Award, which is presented to year 6 students who have made particular contributions to their school communities, including: Chelsea and Tiva of Christ the King Primary in Braybrook for being dedicated learners and respectful, inclusive leaders; Melle and Sajal of St Peter's Catholic Primary in South West Sunshine for being excellent role models and always going above and beyond; Abbie and Anan of Mackellar Primary School in Delahey for outstanding community leadership and academic excellence; Huang and Lavinia of St Albans North Primary for their amazing commitment and leadership as school captains, especially during remote learning; Kathy and Ruby of Resurrection Catholic Primary School for being conscientious, hardworking and independent learners; Lana and Franklin of Monmia Primary for being wonderful house leaders and earning the respect of their peers; and Chantelle and Kevin of St Albans Heights Primary for working hard in all areas of the curriculum and doing their best.

It's also a great privilege to announce the winners of the Fraser Young Leaders Award for year 11 students. Each of these young leaders have made special contributions to their school communities this year, including Cindy and Louis of Braybrook College for their community service, supporting their peers and being valued members of the school's leadership team; Rianna and Matthew of Sunshine College for supporting their peers and working hard to achieve their goals; Isabelle and Jayden of Catholic Regional College Sydenham for their leadership and advocacy for the student community and their involvement in so many dimensions of community service; and Sarah and Tevita of Keilor Downs College for their strong advocacy of student interests to policy leaders, their peer support, their leadership of cultural change and their outstanding contribution to so many academic and extracurricular activities. I'd like to congratulate all of these students and indeed all of the nominees for their wonderful contribution to their schools and to the broader community. Thank you again to the teachers for supporting them in their learning and co-curricular activities in such a difficult period.

I'd also like to talk about the importance of the NDIS in my community. This weekend I'm looking forward to attending the open day of First Choice Allied Health, which is an NDIS provider in Melbourne's west which plays a significant role in my community as a provider of therapy services to Vietnamese Australian NDIS participants. The NDIS is such an important provider of services to many people who are vulnerable in our community, but in particular to many people who come from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.

I was delighted to join in recent weeks with my neighbours the member for Gorton and the shadow minister for the NDIS, the member for Maribyrnong, for an NDIS forum. Well over 3,000 participants live in my electorate of Fraser, and the NDIS plays a key role in my community. It was a privilege to join with so many participants and providers and to hear directly from them about their experience, how the NDIS could be made more effective, and their suggestions for improvements and reform. It was concerning to hear from some participants in my electorate about the negative impact that recent policies have had upon NDIS participants and their families, and how these policies are undermining the agency and the autonomy of participants.

The NDIS is a landmark Labor reform on the same scale as Medicare. Labor understands that one of the key rationales for the NDIS is that it should empower participants and provide them with more control and autonomy over their lives and more access to more diverse and better funded services. This government has recently criticised the NDIS for being a service which has seen overspending. In reality, over the last 12 months there has been an increase in costs of 18 per cent and an increase in the number of participants of over 20 per cent, so, on a per capita basis, funding is actually falling. (Time expired)