QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr BUTLER (Hindmarsh—Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House) (14:41): Speaker, I hope you don't mind me also giving a shout-out to my dad and fellow Vietnam veterans on this important day. Thank you to the member for Macarthur. He's an experienced paediatrician who I think knows more about childhood development and disability than anyone else in this building, and he knows that the NDIS is one of Australia's great modern reforms.

In just 15 years it's gone from literally a dream of generations of activists to a cherished institution. It's transformed lives profoundly. It's made our country better and it's put Australia at the vanguard, with the NDIS genuinely the centrepiece of the most comprehensive suite of supports for people with disability you'll find anywhere on the planet.

But it's grown too big, it's costing far too much, and it's become a soft target for shonks and crooks. For months now, I've said that this simply can't go on. More importantly, I've said that we simply can't afford for the NDIS to fail.

I'm pleased to report that today the Senate will consider and, I'm confident, pass our plan to get the NDIS back on track and to set down the clearest possible path to a secure, sustainable future for the world's best disability insurance scheme. Now, I note this is hard reform, and I know it's causing anxiety in parts of the community, but it is essential, and I want to thank the many, many people who, through the inquiries and otherwise, have engaged in a frank and constructive way to make this bill the best possible version it can be.

This House has already, with government support, passed 30 amendments to the bill, and today we'll be moving 33 additional amendments in the other place to clarify aspects of the package, to provide detail around the commitments we made from the start to ensure there were protections for participants with high support needs or who require 24/7 care, and to further tighten protections around fraud, integrity and inducements, which, frankly, have been too loose for far too long.

I want to thank the shadow minister, the member for Lindsay, particularly for her engagement on those amendments around fraud and integrity, but more broadly for her firm but constructive approach to trying to reach a bipartisan position on these essential reforms. There will still be much to do even after this bill passes. This parliament should be deeply proud of everything the NDIS does every single day for hundreds of thousands of Australians, but these changes will ensure that it can provide that same security, dignity and support for decades to come.