QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:20): I understand the political kind of argument around trying to link those two things, but they are quite different. There is a diesel fuel tax credit scheme that has operated for as long as I can recall, and then there are sensible and needed changes that we are making to the NDIS to secure its future and to ensure that it is sustainable into the long term.

They are not linked. The government doesn't see them as linked. We are making those changes to the NDIS because it cannot continue to grow at the rate it is growing.

The NDIS will continue to grow, as we know. What we're trying to do is slow the growth of the scheme. A scheme that was originally intended to be $13 billion a year is now over $50 billion a year and growing.

If we do nothing about it, it will continue to grow in excess of $70 billion a year. It is not sustainable. The PRESIDENT: Senator Waters, second supplementary?