Senator The Hon Mitch Fifield
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
MANAGER OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS IN THE SENATE
Senator for Victoria
Transcript
ABC RADIO NATIONAL
Breakfast with Ellen Fanning
Interview with Alison Carabine, Political Editor
22 April 2014
7:50am
E & OE
Subject: National Disability Insurance Scheme
FANNING:
Mitch Fifield is the Assistant Minister for Social Services with responsibility for disability care. He’s been listening to John Della Bosca and Senator Fifield is speaking with our Political Editor, Alison Carabine.
CARABINE:
Mitch Fifield, good morning.
FIFIELD:
Good morning Alison.
CARABINE:
Minister, as we’ve just heard, people with disabilities are anxious. Can you guarantee the NDIS will be rolled out in full and on schedule?
FIFIELD:
Well, I am absolutely determined to deliver the NDIS in full, come hell or high water. But I’m also equally determined to lay firm foundations for the scheme and to do whatever I can to make sure the NDIS is the very best that it can be.
CARABINE:
It looks like the Expenditure Review Committee has agreed to a $6 Medicare co-payment in next month’s Budget. Will it also be taking a look at the NDIS to try and underpin those foundations?
FIFIELD:
I think it is important to recognise that no nation can afford a good social policy without a good economic policy. And at the heart of a good economic policy is good Budget policy. Which is why it’s a sign of a good and compassionate government and a good and compassionate Treasurer that we’re working hard to bring the Budget back into balance.
CARABINE:
Does that mean you can’t guarantee that there won’t be any cuts to the NDIS in this year’s Budget?
FIFIELD:
We’re determined to deliver the NDIS in full. We’re determined to deliver it within the existing funding envelope. But when we came into Government, out of an abundance of prudence, I wrote to the Board of the NDIS Agency and asked for their advice as to how they were tracking for full rollout. And in response, they commissioned three independent gentlemen to undertake a Capability Review. And that found some things which were sobering and some things that were inspiring. Inspiring that there are now several thousand Australians with disability getting the better deal that they deserve. And also the staff of the Agency put in a herculean effort to get the trial sites up and running. But it was also sobering because it found that the decision of the previous government to bring forward the commencement of trial sites by a year had fundamentally compromised some of the key capabilities of the Agency. So we’re determined to fix those capabilities, to lay firm foundations so that we can deliver the NDIS in full. That’s our commitment.
CARABINE:
And will the NDIS be delivered in full by 2019-2020, which is the current timetable?
FIFIELD:
Well, the timeframes for implementing the NDIS are laid out in a series of bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and the states and territories. And those can only be changed by agreement. Alongside that, however, the independent Board of the Agency have commissioned KPMG to look at the work of the Capability Review, to see if there are any implications in that for their capacity to deliver the NDIS in good form according to the existing timeframes. And the Board will receive that KPMG advice and then they will advise all Australian Governments because this is a joint venture between all Australian Governments if there are any issues that need to be addressed.
CARABINE:
So once you receive that advice from the National Disability Insurance Agency, once they get the KPMG report, could that feed into any revision of the timetable for rolling out the NDIS?
FIFIELD:
Well look, we will follow where the evidence leads. But I have absolutely no doubt that the Board will recommend what is in the best interests of the scheme and that the Board will recommend the optimal timetable for a successful full scheme rollout.
Now, I don’t think anyone should be in any doubt. We’re not looking for ways to cut or delay the NDIS. We’re looking for ways to deliver the NDIS. We’re looking for how we can make sure that this is the best scheme that it can possibly be. And to make sure that happens, you’ve got to start with a clear eyed assessment of what we inherited from the previous government. Which is why the Capability Review was commissioned. Which is why KPMG are going to be undertaking their work. But all of that is predicated on giving us the advice that we need to put us in the best position to deliver the very best NDIS.
CARABINE:
But Minister, you may be fully committed to rolling out the NDIS, but when the Treasurer says that it could end up as big a farce as the Pink Batts program, that sounds like yes, the Government supports the NDIS in principle but you’re reluctant to commit the hard cash to the scheme.
FIFIELD:
We will commit the funding required to deliver the NDIS in full. Joe Hockey was making the very reasonable point that having an NDIS in concept is great, but this is all about the implementation. This is all in the delivery. And that’s what we’ve got to be focused on, laser-like, to make sure that we get this right on the ground. We are determined to learn the lessons from the trial sites. Part of the design of the Productivity Commission was that there are trial sites so that we can learn lessons and make adjustments before proceeding to full national rollout.
CARABINE:
Minister, on another Budget issue – the Medicare co-payment. If the Government charges patients $6 for each bulk billed GP visit, won’t you just be pushing more people into overstretched hospital emergency departments?
FIFIELD:
Look, that’s Budget speculation. We will have to wait and see what is there in the Budget on Budget night. But I just want to come back to an earlier point I made. And that is that you can’t afford a good social policy unless you have a good economic policy. So I know people are being unfairly critical of Joe Hockey, but Joe Hockey is passionately committed to the NDIS. It’s one of the reasons why he wants to bring the Budget back into balance, so that we have the capacity in the long term to deliver and sustain important reforms like the NDIS.
CARABINE:
And Mitch Fifield, a $6 co-payment would also be aimed at getting the Budget back into balance. Just briefly, can you rule it out?
FIFIELD:
Budget night is coming on the 13th of May. We’ll have to see what is in the Budget.
CARABINE:
Mitch Fifield, thanks for your time.
FIFIELD:
Thanks indeed.
ENDS
Media contact: Lydia Bevege | 0409 792 081 | Lydia.bevege@dss.gov.au