Page 3831 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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more across the costs and potential implications for Canberrans. And I trust that our representatives on the COAG special council of treasurers and disability ministers also pay a little more attention to funding mechanisms. While I, and indeed all Canberra Liberals, support improved services for people with a disability, you would have to be just a little bit frightened about the capacity and the capability of the Labor Party, both ACT and federal, to fund and manage such a scheme.
As we have seen at ACT and federal government levels, the track record for implementation by Labor governments is abysmal. I certainly do not trust that ACT Labor is the right party to help implement this scheme when the Chief Minister and former Treasurer is not even aware of the existing funding systems and shows such casual disregard for taxpayers’ money.
Equally, at the federal level the government that brought you massive blow-outs and poor project management in BER funding and failed insulation schemes has already acknowledged that the introduction of the scheme would be a long journey. The federal government has a record of failure to deliver. We have had endless statements of good intent on any number of projects in the last two years. Disability groups already know that the federal government has a poor track record. They would like to believe that on this important initiative the federal government will deliver, but the Productivity Commission’s timetable is yet to be agreed. However, I acknowledge the progress.
We know that providing support to people with disabilities on the scale outlined in the commission report will be expensive. Sadly, had the federal government not spent so much money on so many mismanaged programs like home insulation, the NDIS might have been able to start sooner. However, the earlier the conversation starts with the states and territories—and COAG is certainly a positive start, with the establishment of the select council of treasurers and disability ministers—the more confident we all can be that something will be delivered.
I hope that in the COAG discussions our Chief Minister will start to pay a bit more attention to have a scheme that is funded and that the best interest of all Canberrans will be protected and upheld. I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “National Injury Insurance Scheme” in subparagraph (1)(a), substitute:
“(b) that the National Disability Insurance Scheme will potentially deliver support to 410 000 people with a disability and may take up to seven years to be fully established;
(c) the Federal Government’s commitment to establish an Advisory Council and the Federal Government’s sector reforms fund of $10 million;
(d) the Chief Minister’s comments in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, viz: “At the end of the day, whether you have a disability in Kaleen or a disability in Queanbeyan, it doesn’t really make a huge amount of difference. You need the support, you need those dollars, and if you want to move around, you need those dollars to follow you.” (ABC Canberra Radio 666); and
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