1 May, 2013
6PR Drive
With Howard Sattler
1 May 2013
3:15pm
E & OE
Subjects: National Disability Insurance Scheme
HOWARD SATTLER:
We’re joined now by Senator Mitch Fifield. He’s the Opposition disabilities spokesman. Hello Mitch.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Good afternoon Howard.
HOWARD SATTLER:
Well the thing that we ask your side is will you support them? Do you support the scheme?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Howard, we support the NDIS. We’ve supported every milestone along the road to its implementation and we will support any reasonable funding proposal. But we’re in the situation where a couple of days ago the Prime Minister was still maintaining that the Government had the money for the NDIS. Then she declared that the Government had a huge funding shortfall and that they had no money. And now the Government have come out proposing a levy which the Prime Minister previously said that she opposed and wouldn’t introduce. She has done a complete turnaround.
HOWARD SATTLER:
Forget what she’s saying and the back down she made. Will you support a levy?
MITCH FIFIELD:
The levy that she has proposed will only cover a bit less than half the cost of the NDIS.
HOWARD SATTLER:
We know that. It will count for about $3.5 billion and they need $8 billion.
MITCH FIFIELD:
That’s right. What we want to hear is the Prime Minister outline how she intends to fund the gap. We’re not asking these questions to be difficult. We think it is appropriate. We think we are doing our due diligence. And we want to carefully consider what the Prime Minister puts forward. But at the moment she has only given us half the funding picture.
HOWARD SATTLER:
She won’t be in office after September 14, we all know that, and I know you’re going to say well, it’s not all over. But it is all over. She won’t be in office and your side will be. What are you going to do for disabled people?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We will introduce the NDIS.
HOWARD SATTLER:
In government you will introduce it?
MITCH FIFIELD:
In government we will introduce an NDIS.
HOWARD SATTLER:
And how will you pay for it?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We will look at what the Government has proposed. We don’t know as yet how they intend to fund the balance of the scheme. We don’t know what the final budget position will be when we come into office. We want to take a careful look at what the Government has proposed, Howard.
HOWARD SATTLER:
But look, the disabled people are the meat in the sandwich. They don’t deserve to suffer at all. They need to be supported. You guarantee you will introduce the scheme. Will it be as comprehensive as what the Government is proposing?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We will introduce a full NDIS. Even as we speak Tony Abbott is on a 1,000km bike ride raising awareness for Carers Australia. But also highlighting at every stop along the way the need for a full NDIS.
HOWARD SATTLER:
But he is not going to raise $8 billion on a bike ride. Are you prepared to put in $8 billion in government?
MITCH FIFIELD:
He wouldn’t be doing this bike ride if he wasn’t absolutely determined to see a fully funded, fair dinkum, NDIS introduced. And that is what we want to do.
HOWARD SATTLER:
In government you will introduce a scheme as comprehensive, if not more comprehensive than what the Government is proposing?
MITCH FIFIELD:
We follow the Productivity Commission blueprint. That is the best plan for introducing a full NDIS. And that is the blueprint we intend to follow.
HOWARD SATTLER:
Will the disabled people and their carers be any worse off under your scheme than they would be under the Government’s scheme? If the Government goes ahead and does what it says it will.
MITCH FIFIELD:
I hope we and the Government are on the same page when it comes to the extent of the NDIS. This isn’t an issue that we’ve sought to be partisan about. We have supported the Government’s legislation. We have supported the launch sites. We have supported each step along the road. I like to think that we and the Government are on the same page when it comes to the extent and coverage of the NDIS.
HOWARD SATTLER:
You know the Government’s game here. I know the Government’s game. The game is called wedge politics. She’s holding off to make it an election issue because she thinks she will get more votes than you will on this issue. Now do you think she should introduce this scheme in the parliament before the election?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Absolutely. If she’s serious about this levy then she should introduce it in the parliament before the election and seek to have it voted upon. That’s what she will do if she is serious.
HOWARD SATTLER:
You would support it in principle. It’s only the details. Is that right?
MITCH FIFIELD:
As I say, we’re happy to look at any reasonable funding proposal. We’re asking the Prime Minister for further details.
HOWARD SATTLER:
But if it goes before the parliament, before the election, you would support it in principle?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Howard, we need to know more detail. Not just about the levy. But also about what the Prime Minister proposes to make up the gap between what the levy will raise and the full cost of the NDIS. And I think that is an entirely responsible approach on the part of the Opposition.
HOWARD SATTLER:
Do you think you will win or lose votes at the election on this issue? That’s what it has come down to unfortunately.
MITCH FIFIELD:
I’m not looking at it through that prism. I hope others aren’t. What I want to see is an NDIS become reality. I think that Australian’s with disability have a very low threshold for any politician that seeks to play partisan politics with the NDIS. They just want to see it delivered. We stand ready, as we have been at every step, to work cooperatively with the Government.
HOWARD SATTLER:
Thanks for your time.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Thanks Howard.