Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina) (12:09): We've heard some good contributions. The member for Mackellar talked about childhood obesity, which is such an important issue, and the member for Maribyrnong talked about mental health. I thank you both for those contributions.

There have been other good and worthwhile contributions made in this important to-and-fro, because it is a consideration in detail. I respect the fact that the assistant health minister, the member for Lyons, is in the chamber. I apologise in advance; I have to run off after my contribution because I've got the Georgian ambassador in my office.

But it's a shame that the Minister for Health and Ageing, the actual person who heads up the department, is not here. I know when the coalition was in government, the senior minister—with all due respect, Assistant Minister—was here to answer questions, to make sure that they returned fire, so to speak, as soon as the questions were asked. I do hope that you take the questions asked in this chamber back to the minister so that he can respond in an appropriate time.

And I have a few questions, particularly around disability. I'm very, very concerned about the National Disability Insurance Scheme and travel cuts for regional people. I do want to know why the minister is not listening to those country people for whom this is a very important topic, such as Patricia and her son Michael Veney of Cowra.

Michael's on the NDIS. He's been cut off from his supports, like his occupational therapy. He is one of the victims of these cost-cutting measures, and it is such a shame.

I want to know what the minister will do to alleviate the stress and the worry of those families who previously had that NDIS support and have had the rug pulled out from under them. I would like an answer. I can give a more detailed request for that.

The Thriving Kids program previously was a commitment from the government to implement foundational supports, but it hasn't happened. It really does affect children who continue to be denied access to the NDIS following their sixth birthday—although there are many inconsistencies in the process that I would say make it an inequitable process. This isn't being partisan.

This is being someone who cares for these families who are at the end of their tether. They truly are. I want to know why the minister announces these programs ad hoc, because it causes much angst and stress within the disability community, and then there's no support provided for those families when the programs are not then funded.

Will the minister provide clear guidelines for providers and parents to follow? Why is the minister not able to correctly define autism health categories? It is something that is playing out not just in my regional electorate of Riverina but right throughout Australia.

There are so many children these days afflicted with autism, and it is a big issue in the NDIS space. Five minutes doesn't give us time enough to really delve down into the details about autism and what this government is doing to help those NDIS patients. The NDIS claim they're having conversations, but there have been minimal conversations about supports given to adults in this space, and it's simply not good enough.

Aged-care reform delay—I speak of Sandra Wild of Ardlethan, who is one of those people who feels as though the situation is beyond help. She's trying to find an aged-care home for her husband. They've been together for 28 years, and he's got dementia.

It's a sad situation. I don't think the minister, who is responsible for aged care and the NDIS as well, is treating aged care in country areas the way it should be. I know we've got the 24/7 nurse in, and I know the royal commission suggested this as a recommendation, but it's having such an impost on those caring facilities.

They find it hard enough to find staff let alone RNs to properly meet the commitments that they've had foisted upon them by this government. Why should Sandra sell her house to fund her husband's aged-care expenses? This is a common complaint I'm hearing right throughout the Riverina and elsewhere.

The minister does need to show that he cares about senior citizens by answering these sorts of questions and others. I haven't got a response back from the minister's office about the two letters I've sent from Coolamon shire. They've got an aged-care facility called Allawah Lodge, which is a wonderful facility, and they're doing their best under limited circumstances.

As to the Medicare card situation, people can't just provide their Medicare card and get the services in country areas. That's a falsehood.