Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister representing the Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Senator McAllister) and the Minister representing the Prime Minister (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked today.

July is Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate who we are as a community, both as individuals and collectively. It's about tackling head-on the stereotypes that seek to limit us. It's a call on the broader community to unlearn ableism, and it is a time to join together as a community and demand not just recognition but justice. Disability Pride Month isn't about pretending it's easy; it's a statement, saying, 'We are here; we deserve respect and equity,' and it's a call for action, for our allies to fight alongside us. Disability Pride Month is a time when disabled people across the globe, including right here in Australia, are facing cuts, erosion of rights and exclusion at the hands of politicians. Disability pride month marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Australia needs its own disability rights act. The royal commission into disability abuse called for one, yet, years on, this government has failed to introduce one. We need a disability rights act to enshrine our rights in law—our right to be at the centre of the decisions that affect our lives—because, when disabled people are not at the table, the consequences are severe. Cuts to the NDIS, reducing access to income support, as in the United Kingdom, and decisions being made by governments, agencies and bureaucrats that have never lived our reality—that is systemic discrimination. Disabled people will not be shut out, locked up or hidden away for the convenience of others. We continue to be excluded in our workspaces and our workplaces, including in this parliament. But we will persevere and we will win through to justice for all disabled people in Australia. (Time expired)