16 News

For many years, One Nation has been warning the government to reign in out-of-control spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) or else risk support for the very existence of the scheme among the Australian taxpayers who pay for it.

As they watch NDIS costs spiral beyond $50 billion a year – well beyond projections – it appears the Albanese Labor government is listening (a bit). As far as One Nation is concerned, just about the only thing Labor is getting right at the moment is trying to make the NDIS more sustainable.

This week, Labor has announced a move to reduce the number of NDIS participants from 760,000 to 600,000 by 2030. There’s no detail about tightening eligibility requirements, better standards for providers, or cracking down on fraud. And there’s no word whatsoever about one of the biggest problems with the NDIS blowout: pay rates.

Whether you’re a specialist or an unskilled worker, you’ll get around three times as much working in the NDIS than you would in a different health sector. Not only is this costing taxpayers much more than it should; it’s creating shortages of these workers in public health and aged care.

One Nation supports the NDIS. We want it to survive to deliver on its original purpose: providing reasonable and necessary support for Australians living with significant or severe disability.
The NDIS shouldn’t be funding home improvements and renovations, vehicles bought by providers to transport clients, services outside of medical requirements, holidays for clients or carers, sex workers or recreational activities dressed up as ‘therapy’. All providers should be registered and audited, and much bigger penalties should be in place for compliance breaches.

And the NDIS should be means-tested. Currently any billionaire can claim it. Labor appears to have ruled this out, and that’s a mistake.

The Albanese and Rockliff Governments are protecting jobs and critical manufacturing capability at Liberty Bell Bay during its administration process.  

EY have formally accepted both Governments offer to jointly provide a $3 million loan, on a 50:50 basis, to support workers while administrator EY continues to conduct an expedited sale of the facility.  

This support is about providing workers with more certainty in what has been a very difficult time for the community.   

It will keep the workforce in place, protecting jobs and specialist skills, as well as giving the facility the best chance of a successful sale and faster restart under a new owner.   

Liberty Bell Bay is Australia’s only domestic producer of manganese alloy, a critical input into steelmaking for defence, construction and mining.   

This support follows the Tasmanian Government providing a $20 million loan to purchase ore after commitments from GFG, the smelter’s owner, it would restart operations at Liberty.  

Despite the commitment from GFG, Liberty remained in limited operations until the administration process began. 

The Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments will continue to work closely to support workers, safeguard Australia’s industrial resilience, and secure the best possible outcome for the facility and the Bell Bay community.  

Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister 

“We’re backing the workers, their families and the community through this sale process because this facility and these jobs matter.  

“I thank the State Government and all local MPs for working with us to support Australian manufacturing.  

“We need to build more things here as a country – and that includes in Northen Tasmania.” 

Jeremy Rockliff, Premier of Tasmania 

“We are in the corner of workers, their families and impacted small businesses. 

“Liberty is the only manganese smelter in the country, and we have invested to support the workers and keep this sovereign capability in Northern Tasmania. 

“Our Government established the Bell Bay Response Team and we provided a $20 million loan for ore to restart operations at Liberty. 

“We have been in regular communication with the Federal Government and worked with them to deliver this employee support package.  

“Tasmanian manufacturing jobs are critical to our community, our State and our Nation.  

“Recognising that there is still more to do, I want to thank everyone from all sections of the community for rallying around the workers to save Liberty Bell Bay.  

“Strong cooperation between State, Federal and Local Government has been really important to date and I want to thank our Liberal Members for Bass, Bridget Archer, Rob Fairs and Michael Ferguson, and local members for Windermere, Nick Duigan, and Rosevears, Jo Palmer, for their very strong advocacy and focus on the wellbeing and jobs of the local workers.” 

Tim Ayres, Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science

“This is good news for the Bell Bay community – but I know there is more work to be done.  

“I look forward to a successful sale of Liberty Bell Bay – and welcome a new owner who will look after this facility for what it is: a critical part of the steelmaking supply chain.  

“I thank Jess Teesdale for advocating for her community, as well as the workers, unions and local suppliers, and the State Government, for pulling together to get this positive outcome.”  

Palliative Care Australia (PCA) welcomes the Federal Government’s NDIS reform agenda but says the changes must deliver coordinated support for people with disability linked to a terminal (life-limiting) illness or risk worsening “bed block” in hospitals. 

PCA Interim CEO Simon Waring said the palliative care sector will seek to work constructively with government on the reforms, while ensuring the needs of people with life-limiting illness remain front and centre. 

“We recognise the Government’s commitment to strengthening the NDIS and improving its long-term sustainability,” he said. 

“These are significant reforms, and Palliative Care Australia wants to engage positively with government on how they are designed and implemented.  

“It’s essential people with terminal illness are not overlooked in the process. For this group, the key issue is not simply whether they can access the NDIS. It is whether they can get the practical, day-to-day functional support they need, when they need it, regardless of which system provides it,” Mr Waring said. 

PCA National Policy Director Josh Fear said the proposed shift away from diagnosis-based access and towards functional assessments would create uncertainty for many people with life-limiting illness. 

“People with terminal illness often have complex needs that can change quickly,” he said. 

“The NDIS can provide very important support for some people in this group, but it will never meet the needs of everyone. That is why reform must also address the longstanding gap in supports outside the Scheme – so the NDIS is not the only lifeboat in the ocean.” 

Palliative Care Australia is calling on governments to work with the palliative care sector on the design of alternative systems of functional support for people with disability linked to life-limiting illness who cannot access the NDIS. 

“This is an opportunity to build a better and more coordinated response, including through a new system of Foundational Supports and stronger supports through mainstream health systems,” Mr Fear said. 

“We want to sit down with government and contribute constructively to that work.” 

Mr Fear said the palliative care peak body would be advocating strongly on several key issues as the reform process progresses. 

“First, people with terminal illness must not be left in limbo as access pathways change,” he said. 

“Second, people whose health is deteriorating quickly need to have their support needs met rapidly, regardless of which system is delivering that support.  

“Third, clarifying the boundaries between the NDIS and mainstream services must lead to better coordination of care, and not more gaps, confusion or cost-shifting between systems. 

“If we don’t get this right, more patients will be stranded in hospital, adding to those who can’t be safely discharged right now.”  

Mr Fear said the community must have confidence that people with life-limiting illness are not forgotten as major changes are made to the disability system.  

“We call on governments to confirm that this group will be a priority. People with life-limiting illness should not miss out on essential support because they do not fit neatly into one system, or because broader cost pressures are being felt elsewhere in the NDIS,” he said. 

“Our message is constructive, but clear: we are ready to work with government on practical solutions, and we will continue advocating for a system that responds with flexibility and compassion to people with terminal illness and their families.” 

The Greens have slammed Labor’s NDIS cuts, saying their decision to kick 160,000 people from the scheme and reduce supports for disabled people is a cynical and cruel decision while gas exporters’ untaxed profits soar. 

Labor’s declaration that more restrictive eligibility for the NDIS will remove 160,000 people from the scheme – ahead of the codesign process that would supposedly design those criteria, has left the disability community facing months or years of anguish and fear.

Under Labor’s NDIS cuts;

• There will be a real cut to funding each year across the forward estimates, with growth caps stuck below inflation while corporate profits soar,
• An estimated 160,000 people will be removed from the scheme entirely, leaving disabled people fearing whether they will be excluded,
• Participants face an estimated $5000 reduction in funding for social and community participation supports that provide critical social contact,
• Participants’ ability to request changes to their supports is reduced, with restrictions on unscheduled assessments
• The move towards an approved list of Supported Independent Living providers also poses risks to the choice and flexibility under the scheme.

The government’s decision to announce reverse aged care cuts show the cynical calculation Labor has made about who it thinks should be able to have the basics required to live a good life.

Labor says people should move to other supports – but governments have failed disabled people for years, through lack of investment in publicly available supports, high-quality accessible public housing with shared supports, and mental health in Medicare, and the low rate of the Disability Support Pension.

The Greens say they will oppose Labor’s cruel cuts to the NDIS, saying that the government is cynically pitting people who need care against one another while letting rich gas exporters off the hook.

Senator Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens said:

“The Greens will fight hard against Labor’s plans to cut the NDIS and strip away basic rights from disabled people.

“Labor is today cynically booting 160,000 people off the NDIS while letting big gas corporations avoid $17 billion in tax. 

“How dare this Government, who promised they wouldn’t cut the NDIS, balance their budget by selling disabled peoples’ dignity.

“This is an extraordinary betrayal of disabled people by a Labor government that promised to protect the NDIS, not cut it. Australians with a disability and everyone who loves them are angry, and they’re not going to let Labor take away their dignity without a fight.

“Budgets are about choices, and Labor is choosing to cut the NDIS instead of taxing rich gas corporations. Labor needs to show courage, tax the big corporations and 1%, stand up to Donald Trump, and get these billions back into the essential services we all rely on.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, Greens Disability spokesperson said:

“Disabled people are disgusted with this betrayal by Labor. Labor promised to protect the NDIS, but they are cutting it instead.

“It’s shocking that Labor is choosing to cut vital services for disabled people rather than tax gas exports, make Clive Palmer pay a little more tax or buy one fewer AUKUS submarine.

“Disabled people are now left dreading whether they will be one of the 160,000 people Labor plan to kick off the NDIS – because their disability is too invisible, or because a computer predicts they will be fine without supports. 

“These supports enable us to get out of bed in the morning, to connect with community and to avoid social isolation, and the government has announced it’s their intention to slash them. 

“It’s disgusting that Labor would strip that sense of hope away from disabled people and their families when the ultra-wealthy are doing so well. 

“Labor is making these cuts because they believe we are an easy target. They are wrong. We are angry, we are organised, and we will fight back.”

The Australian Greens are calling for the National Cabinet to implement a nationwide rent freeze and a moratorium on evictions for the duration of the fuel crisis.

Australian households are being pushed to the brink as a result of the fuel crisis driven by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with renters the least able to absorb the shock of price spikes in essentials.

Renters are already struggling with big rent increases and record low vacancy rates. Nationwide rents surged more than 5 per cent over the past year. Now, they’re facing higher prices for essential transport, food and services – with many households just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness.

During the COVID pandemic, the Victorian government implemented a 12 month freeze on rent increases as well as an eviction moratorium, to ensure housing precarity didn’t become a homelessness epidemic at a time of global economic instability.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Federal Government to work with states and territories to again provide this critical security for renters during the fuel crisis.

Greens Leader Larissa Waters:

“Renters around the country are facing some of the worst housing insecurity in living memory,” said the Greens Leader on Thursday.

“The fuel crisis has turbocharged a housing affordability crisis, with rents soaring, vacancy rates plummeting and house prices continuing to skyrocket.

“There are queues around the corner for tiny, overpriced apartments in every capital city in the country and outside the city the situation is often even more dire. Many people are facing a really terrifying reality that in the coming months they’ll simply have nowhere to live.

“We saw a rare example during COVID of a government doing their job and protecting renters from the volatility of global economic circumstances by putting a ban on rent increases and evictions. There’s nothing stopping that happening again.

“If the PM doesn’t use national cabinet to coordinate these national protections for renters, he will have to answer for massive rent hikes and evictions on top of inflation and cost of living in the coming months of this crisis.”

Greens spokesperson for finance, housing and homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock:

“People are already experiencing financial stress, struggling to make ends meet. This sensible, immediate cost-of-living rent relief will support people with the least secure housing. 

“Too many households are just one rent increase away from eviction or homelessness. A rent freeze and ban on evictions will give people the security they need in a cost of living and fuel crisis. 

“Trump and Netanyahu’s war on Iran is causing economic pain for Australians. While Labor gives tax breaks to price gouging corporations and wealthy property investors, ordinary Australians are literally paying the price.

“Rents are rising at record rates forcing people to spend more than 30% of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.

“We’ve protected renters before and we can do it again. During the COVID pandemic, the Victorian Labor Government introduced a 12 month rent freeze and the Morrison Government coordinated a national eviction moratorium. There’s no reason why the Labor Government can’t do the same to help renters struggling right now.”

Chair of the Select Committee into the taxation of Australia’s gas resources, Australian Greens Senator Steph Hodgins-May, has confronted Woodside CEO Liz Westcott at the company’s AGM in Perth over her decision not to appear at tomorrow’s Senate inquiry into gas taxation. 

Westcott has been invited to give evidence at the final hearing but will not appear, with other company representatives scheduled instead. 

Speaking from inside the Woodside AGM, Senator Hodgins-May questioned Westcott directly on her absence and the taxation of gas exports. Ms Westcott would not commit to attending the inquiry hearing. 

Executives from Woodside, INPEX, Chevron and Santos are scheduled to appear at the final hearing at the Mercure Hotel in Perth. Media will be permitted, with audio broadcast only via APH.

Senator Hodgins-May: 

“It says everything that the CEO of one of Australia’s biggest gas exporters has time to address shareholders, but not to front a public inquiry into whether other Australians are getting a fair return on their resources.

“CEO’s shouldn’t just be focussed on the boardroom and senior government ministers, they need to front parliament when called and address critical matters of public interest. 

“Tomorrow’s hearing will test the claims the gas industry has repeated every time reform is on the table. 

“We’ve heard the same scare campaign every time, that now is not the time. Somehow it’s never the time to be sharing their obscene profits with those who own the resources – the Australian people. Australians simply aren’t buying it anymore. 

“A minimum 25 per cent tax on gas exports would raise at least $17 billion a year. There would be no need to slash the NDIS, and we’d have money to fund cost of living relief and a rapid transition to a clean energy future.

“The Prime Minister and Premier Cook need to remember we don’t live in a petrostate, where our political system is captured by greedy, profit seeking corporations.   

“The political risk if Labor doesn’t act is growing by the day. The consensus is clear that Australians are demanding a fair return on their resources.”