Former Business Council of Australia chairman Tony Shepherd — breathlessly recounted in yesterday’s Australian — reckons people with disabilities are about to take the government to the cleaners. Shepherd thinks the National Disability Insurance Scheme is likely to cost the government $25 billion instead of the $22 billion originally cited.
The federal government is trying to take over more control of the NDIS from the states, ostensibly to centralise running the scheme but potentially to cut its funding and prevent that $3 billion “blowout”.
But rather than taking money from Australians with disabilities, who probably need the scheme for silly luxuries like carers and mobility equipment in order to participate in society, here are some other budget savings the government might find instead.
For starters, there’s the completely unnecessary $160 million plebiscite on marriage equality that will tell MPs what they already know — that a majority of Australians support equal rights for all and it’s about damn time to legislate for it.
Here’s another expense we could probably do without: the government spends $1.2 billion a year to keep asylum seekers in offshore detention centres. That’s an awful lot of money to keep desperate people in dire, soul-crushing circumstances indefinitely.
And if we really want to pinch pennies to pay for the completely necessary insurance scheme to prevent disabled Australians from becoming destitute, how about we stop invading the Middle East (this would have the added benefit of making Australians safer)? The 2003 invasion of Iraq has cost more than $3 billion, and Australia has spent more than $10 billion on the “War on Terror” since 2001.
Maybe some savings to be had there?
I love you guys. You’re so reliable.
To help you to write editorials in even less time, I’ve developed this handy template for you to use at least every two weeks thereby reducing the effort required or 10% of your editorials.
1a. The government is spending money on (insert spending here) and we don’t like it. Or
1b. The government is not spending enough money on (insert cause du jour here) and we think they should.
2a. They can pay for it by increasing tax on (insert potential cash source here). Or
2b. They can pay for it by reducing spending on (insert current spending here).
It’s dang awkward that the ALP has released its negative gearing policy which shows that changes to it will not deliver the revenue required for a typical Crikey cause du jour. So you can’t use that one any more. I notice you’ve stopped using it in today’s effort.
As to the plebiscite which the benighted & bewildered parliamentary god botherers say they’ll ignore, the ABC Drum’s regular poll asked whether it was supported – last night it was about 50/50 yes/no on a very small total vote, possibly because those who want equal marriage didn’t support the poll but equally couldn’t say yes as it is a waste of time & money.
Unlike some, I like you lot because you (mostly) get angry about the *right* things.
Long may you keep fighting the good fight.
Disheartening that the two comments so far have focused on matters other than the likely shrinking of the NDIS and long term implications of that. Focus, people, focus! Don’t use this forum as a soapbox for the things that drive you particularly mad. Go into Empathy-land and consider the lives of people with disabilities, including children, and of their carers. Go into Economics-land and consider the cost to the nation and our future of people not achieving their full potential. The NDIS is an investment in a large group of citizens who currently find barriers of all sorts hindering their progress. You don’t have to be a leftie nutjob to understand and accept that the price to the nation of buying a jet fighter and lining it up to fight in a war in the Middle East could lead to better outcomes over the next generations, if expended on making our schools better and giving people with disabilities a fair go.
Mr Hand, a suggestion for you. If you don’t like the writings of Crikey, DON’T subscribe or read. Easy.