Radio 2GB
E & OE
GRANT:
Back in March 2014 the Assistant Social Services Minister was on the 7.30 Report with Sarah Ferguson, when he said this about the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
*AUDIO CLIP*
FIFIELD:
The scheme will cost what the scheme will cost. The Productivity Commission work has been assessed by the Australian Government Actuary and what they find is that in full rollout the complete cost of the Scheme will be about $22 billion. Now half of that is Commonwealth money, half is State, and about 8 or 9 billion dollars of that amount will be new Commonwealth money. This is making up for chronic neglect in the past. We’re determined to deliver. The Prime Minister is determined to deliver. We are not going to let Australians with disability down.
FERGUSON:
And there is no suggestion coming from the Commission of Audit, for example, that you should be looking to cut back on the Government’s component of that funding?
FIFIELD:
Well, the Commission of Audit have as one of their thee principles that government should do those things that only government can do. Now, facilitating proper support for Australians with disability is core government business. And I do not expect that the Commission of Audit will in any way shape or form suggest that the NDIS is anything other than the core business of government.
* END AUDIO CLIP*
GRANT:
And the Senator’s recently been published in The Australian writing about the Scheme and how indeed $22 billion will need to be raised to pay for it by 2019. It’s a lot of money. But he says finding the cash is a real issue. You see like many things the former Government did, it was a promise made without money being allocated to it. Senator Fifield has labelled their promise akin to the magic pudding, a work of fiction. So it’s a fair question to put isn’t it, how the hell do we fund this? The Senator joins me on the line. Happy New Year.
FIFIELD:
Happy New Year to you as well Luke.
GRANT:
Nice to talk to you again. The commitment to the NDIS is still a core function of your Government?
FIFIELD:
Absolutely Luke. No change on that. We are determined to deliver the NDIS in full. And I guess the point that I’ve been making of late is that one of the reasons why we are pursuing repair of the budget is to make sure that we have the capacity as a Government, as a community, to fund those things which we all agree are core government business. Things like the NDIS.
GRANT:
The thing I haven’t been able to understand and I’ve watched the to and fro particularly from the Opposition, they’ve has plenty to say about the NDIS, and they often make claims that you won’t deliver it etcetera. But you’ll need to find $20 billion, you’ve known that since last year. How are you going to find that money and where was the previous Labor Government, where did they expect to find that money?
FIFIELD:
Well you’re right Luke. At full scheme it will be $22 billion per annum. A little under half of that, $10 billion, will come from the States. Essentially that’s the money that they currently spend on disability that they will tip into the NDIS pot. Add to that another $3 billion which is money that the Commonwealth is currently spending on disability and would be spending on disability even if there wasn’t an NDIS. And then in addition to that there’s an extra $9 billion of new money that the Commonwealth will be putting into the NDIS.
Now when you put this proposition to Labor, they say don’t worry about how to fund the Commonwealth’s additional contribution, the half a per cent increase in the Medicare levy does that. Well no, that half a per cent increase in the Medicare levy only funds about 40 per cent of the Commonwealth’s additional contribution. So that is the gap that the Federal Government will have to make up. And it’s one of the reasons why, as I said before, it’s really important that as a government we focus on what is our core business. That we repair the budget to make sure that we, and future governments, will have the capacity to pay for the NDIS into the future.
GRANT:
So when Jenny Macklin, in particular, has been saying in this ongoing debate it’s fully funded, that’s a fib isn’t it?
FIFIELD:
Yes, it’s a fib. It’s a fib. On the best assessment possible, the Medicare levy is only going to cover 40 per cent of the Commonwealth’s additional investment. If you combine the Commonwealth’s new money and old money, then the Medicare levy would only cover 30 per cent of that. And if you add the State money and the Commonwealth money then the Medicare levy would only cover 20 per cent of the Scheme’s costs. So this idea that Labor have put out that the Medicare levy increase covers the full cost of the NDIS is just wrong. On the most generous assessment it will only cover about 40 per cent of the Commonwealth’s additional expenditure.
But we are determined, be in no doubt, to make sure that we have the money to fund the Scheme in full. But it’s really important that people appreciate that Labor didn’t do the hard yards to make sure that the money was there for the NDIS. We will do that as part of our budget repair.
GRANT:
So in a scenario we find ourselves in where you know, you guys did inherit massive amounts of debt, we got revenues down in many areas. And we’ve got these really good ideas, but expensive, ideas like the NDIS and others. Shouldn’t as part of the responsible getting the budget back on track be a revaluation on where we are with things like this. And saying look, we would have loved to have done this now but we’ve come here with this massive anchor and while that’s there we just have to take our time with things. Don’t you think the people would cop that?
FIFIELD:
Well we are reviewing government spending across all portfolios. But the NDIS is a commitment. We are going to honour it. We are going to deliver it in full. And that’s why it’s really important that we prioritise as a Government. That we identify those things that really matter. And one of those things that we think is really important is the NDIS. So we will find the funds for it.
But Labor treated the Medicare levy increase as a magic pudding and pretended it could do all sorts of things that it wasn’t able to do. We’re going to do the hard work. We’re going to find the money. We’re going to make the savings. We’re going to deliver the NDIS in full.
GRANT:
Have we learned from the various trial sites around Australia how we make this work best when it’s fully implemented? I guess as a trial some of those sites would have been very instructive. Can you give us an example of how perhaps we’ve learned how to run this thing fully? From those trial sites.
FIFIELD:
I think when the trial sites commenced potential scheme participants were essentially given a menu of funded supports and asked what they’d like. And, not unreasonably, people would tick everything. We’ve really tried to turn that on its head. So the conversation with people is now, what are the natural supports in your life? How can we reinforce those. If you’ve got an unpaid family carer, what can we do to help them. What are the mainstream community supports that you should be accessing, that you’re not currently. How can we put you in touch with those. And then once you’ve done that, then look at what someone’s plan is, look at what their goals are and look at what the funded supports are, at that point, for them. So we’ve really turned that process on its head and I think we’re getting much better outcomes for people.
GRANT:
Fantastic, good to chat Mitch I hope you have a great 2015, thank you.
FIFIELD:
Thanks, you too Luke.
GRANT:
That’s Assistant Minister for Social Services, Mitch Fifield. You know I don’t understand the politics of this. There are probably a lot of things you can have a crack at the Government about. But when Jenny Macklin puts out a release that says, “just days into his new job Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has revealed just how heartless he is when it comes to vulnerable Australians”. She went on, “in a repeat of his Christmas Eve lies Morrison has again falsely claimed the NDIS is not fully funded, despite knowing full well it is”. And then you get a very simple explanation from the Assistant Minister, Senator Fifield, saying “well no, it’s not”. You understand why the expression “magic pudding” fits this situation so well. Sadly for us caught in the middle we don’t know who to believe, do we? Although I think we believe Mitch in this case, quite convincingly.
ENDS