The Greens will oppose Labor’s attempts to slash NDIS funding in the next budget, saying they will back disabled people’s fight for supports all the way.
The Greens say that amid the establishment of a budget ‘razor gang’, the government is using disabled people as a scapegoat for balancing the budget, targeting disability supports while other expensive programs go ignored.
If the government is desperate to inflate figures in the budget, they need look no further than AUKUS, which is preparing for a 50% blowout, or could find revenue through a $17bn gas export tax.
Cutting the NDIS is not just cruel, it’s bad economics. Evidence shows that each dollar spent on the NDIS provides $2.25 in economic benefits, through enabling greater workforce participation.
With the budget around the corner, the Greens say they will not support more cuts to the NDIS.
Greens Disability Rights and NDIS spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said:
“The Greens will push back against Labor making any more cuts to the NDIS. Disabled people shouldn’t suffer just because Labor wants to have shinier numbers than the Liberals in the budget papers.
“Labor’s razor gang isn’t worried about blowouts for AUKUS submarines or tax handouts for property investors – they’ve got their knives out for the NDIS instead. There’s always money for war but whenever Labor needs to find a dollar, they put disability supports, schools and hospitals on the chopping block.
“Labor is trying to cut the NDIS instead of taxing gas exports or the 1% because they think that disabled people and our families will be an easier target than corporations or the super wealthy. They’re wrong.
“Disabled people are used to fighting for their basic rights. They won’t stop now, and the Greens will back their fight.
“People are using the NDIS to make sure their basic needs are met, and for many disabled people, it’s the first time they’ve had access to a basic level of help needed to live a good life.
“Every cut Labor makes to the NDIS removes a critical support from a disabled person and puts the labour back onto the family to pick up the slack, amid a cost of living crisis.
“That labour falls disproportionately on women, and NDIS cuts may force carers out of the workforce, putting careers on hold and undoing much of the so-called ‘economic benefit’ from cuts.
“The Greens will fight Labor’s NDIS razor gang the whole way.