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

This is urgent, and this motion must be considered and approved by this chamber because we have new evidence within our hands now, which speaks to the impact of these cuts on jobs—56,000 jobs lost—and on those carers and family members who are already at burnout. They will have to bear on their shoulders an additional 94 million hours of unpaid care work. We now know that these cuts are unnecessary to meet the government's proposed aim of ensuring the so-called sustainability of the scheme because, as the report states clearly, the overriding premise that the cuts are required to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the NDIS is revealed here to be false, given that a 25 per cent tax on gas exports over the next four years would raise $31.8 billion more than would be saved by the cuts to the NDIS.

Indeed, there are so many other measures that we could take. I cannot believe that this parliament, that this Labor government, would look to cut the vital supports of the disability community before they would think to ask gas exporters to pay even a cent more, or billionaires to pay even a cent more. What is wrong with you people? This is so out of line with Australian values. I urge all members of parliament: listen to the community and discharge this bill. (Time expired)