❓ Opposition questions the Premier's delay in joining the NDIS, citing other states' participation. The Premier defends WA's existing disability support system, claiming it's superior and better funded.
AnsweredQoN 70Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NATIONAL DISABILITY
INSURANCE SCHEME
70. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the news today that Queensland has signed up to
the National Disability Insurance Scheme, following Victoria last week, which
means that New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and
the Australian Capital Territory are all now part of the National Disability
Care Scheme, yet the Premier is not allowing Western Australia to join. When
will the Premier stop dragging out this process and playing politics, and instead
direct officials to sit down and sort out the governance issues until they are
resolved, so that we can sign up to the NDIS and get the best deal for Western
Australian people with disabilities?
INSURANCE SCHEME
70. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the news today that Queensland has signed up to
the National Disability Insurance Scheme, following Victoria last week, which
means that New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and
the Australian Capital Territory are all now part of the National Disability
Care Scheme, yet the Premier is not allowing Western Australia to join. When
will the Premier stop dragging out this process and playing politics, and instead
direct officials to sit down and sort out the governance issues until they are
resolved, so that we can sign up to the NDIS and get the best deal for Western
Australian people with disabilities?
AnswerView source ↗
Obviously the Leader of the Opposition is the messenger boy
for Julia Gillard, but we will deal with the question.
Mr M. McGowan : You're
making fun of people with disabilities now?
Mr C.J. BARNETT : A
little bit touchy; I think I might have hit a little nerve there. Never mind.
Mr
M. McGowan : It's a serious issue!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Order!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
There are perhaps 400 000 people in this country who would come under the
proposed disability care system, or NDIS. In this state, through successive
governments going back more than 20 years, we have had a different model for
providing services and assistance to people with disabilities and their
families. Under that model, Western Australia as a state spends significantly
more than other states on disability. I remind those members opposite who
interjected just then to suggest that this government is not, I guess, caring—that
was the tone of the interjections—that three years ago, this state
government, the Liberal–National government, put an additional $604 million
into the not-for-profit sector, mainly providing for disability. I remind
members opposite that no other government in Australian history, federal or
state, has ever done that.
Mr R.H. Cook : That
was the last government, not you!
The SPEAKER :
Member for Kwinana, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
It was exactly this government. I think it was three years ago—the
Treasurer might be able to confirm this—that there was an additional 25
per cent in funding; 15 per cent across the board for every community-based
group, including the Salvation Army, Rocky Bay, the Cerebral Palsy Association,
the Autism Association and Activ Foundation, and so it went on. That was $604 million—a
25 per cent increase in funding over that four-year period. No other government
has done that. Our credentials—through this government and the previous
government—on disability care lead Australia; no-one less than the
Prime Minister has acknowledged that and stated it publicly. In terms of the
level of care, support and funding, this state is ahead of every other state in
Australia, and they can see that.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
You asked the question; listen to the answer.
In respect of the NDIS, apart from the additional high level
of funding in this state, the other significant difference is that Western
Australia has, over the last 20 years, developed a system, through the
Disability Services Commission, through which state government spending is
distributed to people in need through services provided by not-for-profit
community-based organisations. That is the model—the ambition—of
the NDIS. Members should try to understand that. Julia Gillard has held Western
Australia out in front at COAG meetings as the model that we have to go
towards. We are in front, in funding and in the structure.
The third point I would make is that the funding of
disability services is provided by state governments. In the case of Western
Australia, 80 per cent of the funding of services is provided by the Western Australian
government. The commonwealth has been a small player. It will raise the ante.
That is good. We should not step back from what we are doing in this state to
the standard of the other states, which is lower.
I also make the point that it is highly likely that the
eligibility criteria under the NDIS will mean that a number of people in this
state will get less levels of support than they currently get today, and the
moment people turn 65, they are out of the NDIS. There are some very
substantial issues for people in this state.
I have made it very clear from the outset that this state
government supports the principles of the NDIS. That is accepted by the
commonwealth. For the past year we have offered to have one of the launch sites
in Western Australia; that offer remains open. Negotiations between the state
and the commonwealth continue to achieve that. The difference is that some of
the launch sites in other states are very restrictive. I think in Tasmania it
is a launch site for children aged between zero and five. In South Australia,
it is for a teenage cohort. In other states it is for a limited number of
disability conditions.
The minister has announced some details of the My Way
project. My Way allows people to choose how they spend the funding available,
on what sort of services and from whom. Under the My Way trial being developed
now, there is a difference. In Western Australia, unlike any other launch site,
it covers every area of disability and every single demographic group, not just
children and teenagers. I think the messengers opposite are suggesting that we
should lower standards in this state. We will not do that. We will not
constrain eligibility criteria either. What is being done in My Way complies
exactly in eligibility with the aspirations of the NDIS. Western Australia will
sign. We will join it. Did the opposition hear me? We will join the scheme.
What we are negotiating and what I am optimistic that we will reach agreement
on is that the trials that will be done in Western Australia will be on a more
devolved, decentralised, federated model. Indeed, the anecdotal feedback from
some of the launch sites around Australia as they are being developed is that
commonwealth public servants are basically admitting in private that it cannot
be run out of Canberra; it has to be run at a local level as it will not work
out of Canberra.
This state, due to this government and previous governments,
leads the nation in disability services. I acknowledge that people are missing
out. The Minister for Disability Services, Hon Helen Morton, referred to the
proposed levy in the media today. I supported the levy. Campbell Newman
suggested it at a COAG meeting before Christmas. It was dismissed. I supported
him, as have other Premiers. I presume that the levy will come into effect.
That will raise the total funding for disability. That is good. That will bring
more people into the disability services area. It will widen the eligibility
criteria. This state is working. We are in front of the game. We are working
with the commonwealth for a scheme that will come into play in 2018–19,
which is still a fair way away.
for Julia Gillard, but we will deal with the question.
Mr M. McGowan : You're
making fun of people with disabilities now?
Mr C.J. BARNETT : A
little bit touchy; I think I might have hit a little nerve there. Never mind.
Mr
M. McGowan : It's a serious issue!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Order!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
There are perhaps 400 000 people in this country who would come under the
proposed disability care system, or NDIS. In this state, through successive
governments going back more than 20 years, we have had a different model for
providing services and assistance to people with disabilities and their
families. Under that model, Western Australia as a state spends significantly
more than other states on disability. I remind those members opposite who
interjected just then to suggest that this government is not, I guess, caring—that
was the tone of the interjections—that three years ago, this state
government, the Liberal–National government, put an additional $604 million
into the not-for-profit sector, mainly providing for disability. I remind
members opposite that no other government in Australian history, federal or
state, has ever done that.
Mr R.H. Cook : That
was the last government, not you!
The SPEAKER :
Member for Kwinana, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
It was exactly this government. I think it was three years ago—the
Treasurer might be able to confirm this—that there was an additional 25
per cent in funding; 15 per cent across the board for every community-based
group, including the Salvation Army, Rocky Bay, the Cerebral Palsy Association,
the Autism Association and Activ Foundation, and so it went on. That was $604 million—a
25 per cent increase in funding over that four-year period. No other government
has done that. Our credentials—through this government and the previous
government—on disability care lead Australia; no-one less than the
Prime Minister has acknowledged that and stated it publicly. In terms of the
level of care, support and funding, this state is ahead of every other state in
Australia, and they can see that.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
You asked the question; listen to the answer.
In respect of the NDIS, apart from the additional high level
of funding in this state, the other significant difference is that Western
Australia has, over the last 20 years, developed a system, through the
Disability Services Commission, through which state government spending is
distributed to people in need through services provided by not-for-profit
community-based organisations. That is the model—the ambition—of
the NDIS. Members should try to understand that. Julia Gillard has held Western
Australia out in front at COAG meetings as the model that we have to go
towards. We are in front, in funding and in the structure.
The third point I would make is that the funding of
disability services is provided by state governments. In the case of Western
Australia, 80 per cent of the funding of services is provided by the Western Australian
government. The commonwealth has been a small player. It will raise the ante.
That is good. We should not step back from what we are doing in this state to
the standard of the other states, which is lower.
I also make the point that it is highly likely that the
eligibility criteria under the NDIS will mean that a number of people in this
state will get less levels of support than they currently get today, and the
moment people turn 65, they are out of the NDIS. There are some very
substantial issues for people in this state.
I have made it very clear from the outset that this state
government supports the principles of the NDIS. That is accepted by the
commonwealth. For the past year we have offered to have one of the launch sites
in Western Australia; that offer remains open. Negotiations between the state
and the commonwealth continue to achieve that. The difference is that some of
the launch sites in other states are very restrictive. I think in Tasmania it
is a launch site for children aged between zero and five. In South Australia,
it is for a teenage cohort. In other states it is for a limited number of
disability conditions.
The minister has announced some details of the My Way
project. My Way allows people to choose how they spend the funding available,
on what sort of services and from whom. Under the My Way trial being developed
now, there is a difference. In Western Australia, unlike any other launch site,
it covers every area of disability and every single demographic group, not just
children and teenagers. I think the messengers opposite are suggesting that we
should lower standards in this state. We will not do that. We will not
constrain eligibility criteria either. What is being done in My Way complies
exactly in eligibility with the aspirations of the NDIS. Western Australia will
sign. We will join it. Did the opposition hear me? We will join the scheme.
What we are negotiating and what I am optimistic that we will reach agreement
on is that the trials that will be done in Western Australia will be on a more
devolved, decentralised, federated model. Indeed, the anecdotal feedback from
some of the launch sites around Australia as they are being developed is that
commonwealth public servants are basically admitting in private that it cannot
be run out of Canberra; it has to be run at a local level as it will not work
out of Canberra.
This state, due to this government and previous governments,
leads the nation in disability services. I acknowledge that people are missing
out. The Minister for Disability Services, Hon Helen Morton, referred to the
proposed levy in the media today. I supported the levy. Campbell Newman
suggested it at a COAG meeting before Christmas. It was dismissed. I supported
him, as have other Premiers. I presume that the levy will come into effect.
That will raise the total funding for disability. That is good. That will bring
more people into the disability services area. It will widen the eligibility
criteria. This state is working. We are in front of the game. We are working
with the commonwealth for a scheme that will come into play in 2018–19,
which is still a fair way away.
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