National Disability Insurance Scheme; Australian Labor Party, Doorstop

JENNY MACKLIN: I’m very, very pleased to be here in Geelong today with my colleague, the Member for Corangamite, Darren Cheeseman. I’d like to thank first of all the people here at SCOPE for hosting this forum today. It is a very exciting time in Geelong because Geelong is one of the launch sites for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And here today we’ve had so many individual people with disability, carers, service providers, all now getting into the nitty gritty about the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme here in Geelong.

JOURNALIST: Just to the big issue of the day today, obviously some explosive claims by Lindsay Tanner this morning and in his new book. Has Labor lost its soul?

JENNY MACKLIN: I think as you can see here today, we are implementing for the first time ever in Australia, a National Disability Insurance Scheme. Standing up for people who have never had decent care and support. Underfunded services, unfair, and really for people with disability, this is such an important time and I’m so pleased to be here in Geelong where we’re going to start it.

JOURNALIST: So you think you’ve obviously doing some great work. Why do you think Lindsay Tanner would have made the claims such as Labor losing its soul?

JENNY MACKLIN: Well that’s a question for him. But I’m so proud of our Government’s determination to implement a National Disability Insurance Scheme, to make sure that people with a disability have got a right and an entitlement to the care and support they need to live an independent life.

JOURNALIST: Was the dumping of Kevin Rudd, that still remains a big issue at the moment (inaudible)

JENNY MACKLIN: I think, what I’m concentrating on is building a National Disability Insurance Scheme. What people with disability want and expect from this Government is that we get a National Disability Insurance Scheme, we get it started here in Geelong, and the other parts of Australia where we’ll start in the middle of next year. That’s what’s so exciting and that’s what we will deliver.

JOURNALIST: Disability Insurance Scheme aside though, has it harmed your chances going (inaudible) is that something (inaudible)

JENNY MACKLIN: Well I know that our Prime Minister is absolutely determined to have a National Disability Insurance Scheme, that’s my focus, that’s why I’m so pleased to be here in Geelong today, talking with people with disability. We will implement a National Disability Insurance Scheme. We’ll stand up for people who need our support.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) some of these faults that resulted in him being dumped (inaudible)

JENNY MACKLIN: I’m not going to get into any of that. What’s important is that we deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and that’s what I intend to do.