PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Can I speak as both Premier of Victoria, on behalf of all the Victorians with a disability and also can I speak as a parent of an adult child with a disability and say this is a really significant important step in the next step of rolling out the NDIS across the launch sites and across Victoria and Australia.
It is about a fairer, more equitable funding system for people with disabilities.
It’s about needs-based funding and I well recall, as the Minister for Community Services back in 1996 in introducing needs-based funding with the Futures for Young Adults programme in Victoria, and that changed face of disability services in this state. I’m pleased to say the Futures for Young Adults programme was continued under 11 years of Labor government in Victoria and continues today.
What needs-based funding does is it empowers the person with a disability, their family and carers. It makes them in charge of their own life and their own future, and the funding is based genuinely on need and allows the person with a disability to purchase and deal with service providers to get the best outcome for themselves.
It changes the culture of the service. It puts the person with a disability in charge. The person with a disability has the power and the opportunity to deliver and get the services they want and need and I think this is a great revolution that the NDIS provides for people with disabilities across Victoria and across Australia.
It’s about better, fairer, more equitable funding, but it’s also about changing the culture of the service system, so it’s about the person with a disability being empowered through themselves, their family and their carers to get the services they want and need - in the manner they want and need them. I think that is a fantastic step forward.
I’d also like to acknowledge the benefits of the NDIA Headquarters to the system. Many people would see the benefits to Geelong which I’ll talk about in a minute, but I want to also say that this, I believe, will be a great advantage to the future operations of the NDIS.
Geelong has a long and great culture of compassion and care for people with disabilities going back for decades, but also, a recognition that people with disability are an integral part of our society and that giving those people with a disability an opportunity in the Greater Geelong society.
Geelong has been one of the innovators and leaders in this area and agencies in Geelong can pat themselves on the back for that. And so, having the headquarters here will benefit from the experience of Geelong as a community that does provide the opportunities for people with disability.
Having the senior officers who are driving the policy of the NDIS living in a community like Geelong, where they’re working alongside service providers, working alongside people with disabilities in the street, in their daily lives, in their visits to Cardinia Park to barrack for the Cats, in their supermarketing, in every part of their life here in Geelong, the people who are at the very senior levels of this great programme will be involved with people with disabilities and service providers. I think, personally, that will give a much more practical and better outcome for the NDIS rather than, with due respects to Canberra, people in isolated offices in Canberra running the system.
Also in Geelong, the NDIA Headquarters is right adjacent to the TAC and under our government, WorkCover will move 600 people down here. So you’ll have the headquarters of TAC, the headquarters of WorkCover which will build a centre of excellence in terms of caring for people with incapacities and disabilities, whether it be through a workplace accident, a car accident or any other reason, so that you’ll be able to get that centre of excellence which will improve the quality of services across the board and backed up by the great work of Deakin University and Gordon TAFE, both of whom have considered, excellent programmes in providing services for people with disabilities and providing direct access for people with disability to their educational opportunities.
So, I think Geelong, for that reason, is a great site for this headquarters because I think it will benefit the roll-out, not only of the launch site, but the long-term management and policies of the NDIS.
And finally for Geelong itself, we know that this will deliver 125 jobs by the end of this year and 450 jobs when you have the national headquarters and the regional headquarters of the NDIA here in Geelong – generating an extra $34 to $35 million dollars a year in income to the local community. Also, with the TAC and WorkCover helping to change Geelong, helping Geelong to transition to a 21st century economy, bringing new talent, new skills to Geelong and providing great opportunities for people in all of these three areas.
This is of great benefit to Geelong. That is why we as a government in Victoria we’re pleased to provide $25 million to assist the development of the headquarters here in Geelong, we're also providing $5 million to upgrade the railway station for better disability access – a great historic railway station but certainly disability access is an important issue.
More recently with the regional rail link we've got better access to Geelong and of course yesterday with the Prime Minister, we announced the western section of the East West Link which again provides that great access to Melbourne and to the international and interstate links.
So, this is a great day for Geelong, a great day for Victoria and Australia but a fantastic day for people with disabilities – not only in Geelong, not only in Victoria but across Australia. It is a win for the NDIA, it's a win for Victoria and it's an absolutely terrific win for people with disabilities across Victoria and Australia.
I am absolutely proud to be here.
Thank you very much.
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES:
Ladies and gentlemen, our Prime Minister isn't someone who ever needed convincing of the merits of the NDIS. Can I say as a Minister- I couldn't want for a stronger or greater support than the Prime Minister gives me. As they say, in this sector, the Prime Minister gets it - but he doesn't just get it in terms of Australians with disability; he also gets it in terms of carers of people with disability which is something that he demonstrates with his body by riding in the annual Pollie Pedal fundraiser which for the last few years the proceeds have gone to Carers Australia.
Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks very much, Mitch.
It is terrific to be here on this great day for Geelong but more importantly great day for people with disabilities right around Australia.
Denis, lovely to be in your company again and I appreciate the passion and the commitment that you have in this particular area. It was palpably obvious in the speech you that you've just given.
Mitch, you bring a remarkable passion and dedication to your work as the Assistant Social Services Minister.
Bruce Bonyhady and everyone associated with the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Agency – thank you for the work you are doing. It's not just a job, it's not just a career; it's a vocation, it's a calling and I thank you so much. My parliamentary colleagues; Sarah Henderson, Richard Marles – thank you for your support for this. Mayor Darryn Lyons – I know how excited you are.
For far too long people with disabilities haven't been given the support that they need so this is a watershed in our society, the National Disability Insurance Scheme - it's not just a new policy.
It is a new way of living, a better way of living for almost half a million Australians who deserve the kind of life which a decent and a prosperous society can give them and that’s what we want to do. We want to ensure that into the future everyone in our society has the opportunity to reach his or her potential, to be the fullest possible contributors and the National Disability Insurance Scheme is about making that happen.
People with disabilities aren't people who should be on the margins of society. They are people who should be in the heart of our lives and they should be in the centre of our society because people with disabilities are our friends, our neighbours, our parents, our siblings- they are us and we need to look after them. This is also an important day for Geelong. Geelong's had some downs as well as some ups recently and I hope this day is a good day for the great city of Geelong. Yesterday was good day for the great city of Geelong with the announcement that East West Link will go ahead - fully go ahead - and that’s great news for Geelong as well as for everyone in Melbourne and everyone in Victoria.
Change is a constant in this life. Not all change we like. The important thing is not that all change is for the better, the important thing is that overall change works for us, not against us, and that’s what this Government, that’s what Denis’ government wants to do. We want to ensure that, as far as is humanly possible, everyone's life is getting better and obviously the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a key part of that.
In order to do good though, governments have to make sensible decision across a whole range of areas. As you will all see on Budget night in just under a fortnight, this is a Government which is fully committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but we are also fully committed to making the decisions necessary to give us a strong economy far into the future. You shouldn't see a dichotomy between social policy on the one hand and economic policy on the other hand. You can only deliver strong social programmes if you've got a strong economy to sustain them and I hope that come the day after the Budget people will say, yes, this is a Government which is committed to nation building and we can build a better Australia because we are determined to have a stronger economy in the medium and the longer term.
So ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much to everyone who wants to see a better Australia. Thank you for being here. As I said, everyone involved with the National Disability Insurance Scheme can be confident that they are not just doing a job. They are building a better country. They are working to make a difference to people's lives. They should feel – you should feel – so proud and so pleased of what you are doing.
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