25 July, 2012
NDIS ONLY MATES NEED APPLY
The Prime Minister has failed to rise above partisanship, only reaching mates deals with Labor states for NDIS launch sites. This is a farce.
The Federal Government is clearly not serious about the NDIS when none of Australia’s three largest states have been included for launch sites.
This half-baked trial will have no credibility.
The Prime Minister has:
– Failed to adequately provide for the first phase of an NDIS only allocating $1 billion of the $3.9 billion the Productivity Commission said was necessary over the forward estimates to commence launch sites
– Failed to commit to a series of credible and comprehensive launch sites by not including any of the three largest states
– Failed to indicate whether or how a full NDIS roll out will be funded
– Failed to commit to the Productivity Commission’s target date for a full NDIS by 2018-19
– Failed to accept Tony Abbott’s offer to establish a joint parliamentary committee to be chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the implementation of the NDIS to ensure the scheme is owned by the Parliament as a whole
It would be a tragedy if all that is achieved are limited trials in smaller states that merely move the boundaries between those who get decent support and those that don’t.
The Prime Minister pays lip service to bipartisanship and cooperation on the NDIS, but at each opportunity to give this meaning and expression she says no.
The Prime Minister has walked away from the Productivity Commission’s NDIS timeline, funding profile and model for comprehensive launch sites.
Australians with disability and their families will be bitterly disappointed.