29 August, 2012
Talking Vision
Vision Australia Radio
With Stephen Jolley
29 August 2012
3.30PM
E & OE
Subjects: National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Vision Australia Texpo
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Senator Fifield welcome to Talking Vision. It’s good to catch up with you.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Great to be here Stephen.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
You are Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Volunteer Sector. So you would be at home today?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Well very much, and catching up with some good friends and seeing some of the exciting developments that there are in assistive technology.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Some people may not know much about your background. You actually grew up in New South Wales, went to Sydney University. Worked on the staff of the Greiner Government, and then the Kennett Government, and then worked for Peter Costello for quite some time.
MITCH FIFIELD:
That’s right. I’ve been very fortunate to work for a number of great parliamentarians and to have the opportunity to serve in a few different portfolios. It’s just been a great opportunity to see a lot of Australians and the good work that they do.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Joined the Senate as a Liberal Senator in 2004.
MITCH FIFIELD:
That’s right, I was sworn in on April Fool’s Day, so it’s very kind of you not to mention that.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Now tell us your impressions of the display today.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Look it’s incredible. I always feel old when I come to a technology expo because when I went to school and university there were no mobile phones. I never touched a computer during my studies. But just seeing the rapid development in technology over the last twenty odd years, but also assistive technology for people with disabilities just over the last three or four years since I’ve been in the portfolio has been incredible.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
The challenge for people with disabilities is to be able to pay for all these devices that’ll make a difference for them in their lives.
MITCH FIFIELD:
That’s right. You have greater technological opportunity for people to get assistance in the home, to assist them in the workplace. But technology does cost money. Technology can be expensive. And one of the things that we have to make sure of is that in the design of a National Disability Insurance Scheme that people who have sensory impairment aren’t let down. That they aren’t ignored. That the design of the scheme takes into account their particular needs.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Tell us about the Coalitions position on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the NDIS. It’s an initiative that’s come up during the time of a Labor government.
MITCH FIFIELD:
We’ve been fully supportive of the NDIS from its inception. We supported the referral of the concept to the Productivity Commission for examination. We supported the recommendations of the Productivity Commission’s final report. It’s an unarguable case that people with disabilities have had a raw deal for a long time and that Australia does need to do better by them.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Are there any key differences between what the Government has in mind and what the Coalition has in mind?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We think that the Productivity Commission recommendations are good. We support them. We think that the Productivity Commission’s timetable for a full NDIS should be achievable by a government that is managing well. I think where we raise a few queries are in relation to budgeting. The Productivity Commission recommended that over the forward estimates, the next four years, there should be $3.9 billion spent on that first phase by the Commonwealth. In the last budget there was only $1 billion which was allocated so we’ve been asking the question, as have lots of people in the sector, as to where the balance of those funds will come from. So we support the money that’s in the budget, but we do ask how that first phase can be introduced if the money is not there.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Can – will your Government be able to find that money, that extra money?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We would have been very happy if in the last budget there was funding certainty provided. And in a budget the size of the Commonwealth’s budget, I think it should be possible to find the money, and I’ll just give you one example. The current Government spends about $7 billion a year on its annual debt interest bill. That’s about the equivalent amount of money that’s required to fully fund a National Disability Insurance Scheme. So if different choices had been made earlier in the time of the current Government, then there would be the money there today.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
All people with disabilities want to be in a better position once the NDIS is in place. How would an Abbott Government make sure this does happen, that everyone does benefit and is not left out?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Well the critical thing is to get the design right. And that’s one of the reasons why we’ve proposed that there be established a joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the implementation of the NDIS. But that committee, I think, should also have the role to ask the critical questions in relation to design and eligibility issues. Now we’ve put that proposal to the Prime Minister. Tony Abbott has written to the Prime Minister on four occasions suggesting this proposal. The Prime Minister to date has said ‘no’. I think it’s very important that this mechanism be set up so that questions can be asked about people with sensory impairment, how they will be supported by an NDIS. And we need a forum where those questions can be asked in a way that’s not seen to be partisan.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
The organisations that provide services for people with disabilities are also looking for some certainty so that they can continue providing their services in what will be a very different environment. How can you assure them that will be the case?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Well, we’ve got to make sure that it is the case. Part of the thinking behind the NDIS is that there will be more power in the hands of the individual, that an individual will have their needs assessed, they’ll be given an entitlement which they can then take to the organisation of their choice to have that met. There may well be some services which need to be provided on another basis. So I wouldn’t foresee that necessarily each and every service would be by way of someone taking their individual entitlement to an organisation. There may well still be some services that need to be provided separate to that.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Because it wouldn’t be practical for someone to have to go through a process of applying for funding for them to have that service delivered to them. It might be sort of a short term occasional thing.
MITCH FIFIELD
Well that’s right. Some people will have needs that they seek to have supported from time to time, or on an episodic basis. And for some of those people, it may well be appropriate that they get an entitlement that they take to the service provider of their choice. For other needs, it may be more appropriate that those are provided through a particular organisation. But they’re some of the issues which need to be nutted out. A concern I have at the moment is that given the lack of information that there is about eligibility, under the NDIS, and how support will be delivered, given the lack of information people often at the moment don’t know the questions to ask of those who are designing the scheme.
STEPHEN JOLLEY:
Senator Mitch Fifield, Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector who has been at Vision Australia in Melbourne, opening Texpo 2012. Good to speak with you.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Thanks Stephen.