Living Within Your Means

So is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) turning into a political bun fight? At the moment it seems it is, and the politicians on both sides of politics seem to be intent on winning brownie points by slagging the others off, rather than focusing on the real issue at hand - basic human rights for every Australian.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has come out and said yesterday about the NDIS "I will not make a commitment to something I can't fund."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/hockey-pours-scorn-on-unfunded-disability-plan/story-fn59niix-1226358249040

He then went on to say:

“you've got to live within your means and the government is engaged in a cruel hoax in saying that it's getting on with the job of the NDIS and then underfunding it".

Only seeing the dollars

You know Mr Hockey there are just some things that take priority over a monetary value. Surely people with disability being able to live a life where they are not treated as second class citizens is one of those things. I wonder how Mr Hockey might get by on 2-3 showers a week, or having to wait a couple of years for a new wheelchair? We’ll probably never know.

Here’s a challenge - Perhaps Mr Hockey could spend a week living with a person with disability and see how well they are currently ‘living within their means’.  Having to ‘get by’ and accept what they are given, which ain’t much! Politicians are elected by the people right? Then surely they should get down and understand the situations of these very people who elect them. 

Perhaps spending some real time with people with disability might provide Mr Hockey with some insight and go a little way in changing his thinking. Surely this should be a matter of ‘how?’ do we fund this Scheme not ‘can we?’

Don’t just be a naysayer and put it in the ‘too hard basket’Joe.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear a re-phrase of Mr Hockey’s comments yesterday perhaps to sound something like this:

‘I can’t make a commitment to how this scheme will be funded yet, but it’s such an important issue, that we will find a way to fund it. 

Now this isn’t about which party you vote for – it’s about making sure whoever you vote for is constantly reminded that people with disability have the right to be treated as equally as any other member of our society.

Let’s see if we can change Joe’s mind.

http://everyaustraliancounts.com.au/home/

NDIS - A Basic Human Right

So you’ve probably heard a bit this week about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (or NDIS for short).

On Monday thousands of people around the country joined forces and attended rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Brisbane – all making the point of ‘Every Australian Counts’. This has been a campaign running for over 18 months now calling on the Government to overhaul the current disability system.

So what happened? Well Prime Minister Gillard announced at the Sydney rally that Australia will definitely have a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).  “Today I can announce that in the May Budget, my Government, your Labor Government will fund our share for the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme” she said.

PM Gillard also announced the Government will deliver the roll out of this scheme a year ahead of schedule and the scheme will start to roll out next year in 4 locations (these haven’t been named yet). 

The Government’s media release states this initial roll out will see about 10,000 people with disability start to receive support under the new system. Read the media release here

So what now? It may seem like we have ‘won’ and in many ways it is a big potential win for all those people who have literally suffered and continue to suffer under a system that just doesn’t work.

However, now is not the time for us to take our foot off the pedal, especially if you think about some of the comments made by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott not too long ago at the National Press Club in February. His sentiments were that the NDIS was only a priority if the budget was in surplus.

 

More recently this week he has pledged bi-partisan support for the NDIS, however there are still questions being raised from within his own cabinet (Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey) around how the NDIS might be paid for.  He says Australian families will find it really hard to pay for an NDIS.

Really? Are we still trying to win political points over an issue that boils down to people with disability in this country having their basic human rights denied?

The Every Australian Counts campaign has recently changed to a harder hitting message asking such questions as ‘Which country expects a child to wait more than 2 years for a wheelchair?’ or ‘Which country expects someone to live with only 2 showers a week?’. The answer of course is our country – Australia. The supposedly lucky country – well it seems only lucky for some. 

Perhaps Joe Hockey might like to hit the streets and ask ‘Australian families’ how hard it might be to refuse giving a dollar or two to a kid who has outgrown their wheelchair.  Or refusing a dollar or two to the countless other desperate situations people with disability and their families face each and every day of their lives. Surely as Australians we can’t be that selfish, give us more credit Joe.

So do we really care how we pay for the NDIS? Some things shouldn’t have a price tag - surely basic human rights are one of these things.

Check out the continuing campaign at www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au