Portfolio — 21 April 2026

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino used a pre-Budget media appearance on 21 April to frame NDIS reform as the government's most visible fiscal task heading into Budget week, with the Minister for NDIS due to announce detailed reforms the following day [TA-260421-treasu-1b749b5e0921]. Mulino's central claim was that the government inherited a scheme growing at over 20 per cent annually and has since cut that growth rate by more than half — but he was explicit that further action remains necessary.

He named two focal points: rorting and the overall spending envelope [TA-260421-treasu-1b749b5e0921]. His framing was notable for its dual register — defending the NDIS as a "world-leading reform" that has delivered greater autonomy and consistent benefits to people with disability, while simultaneously signalling that the envelope is not sustainable without further intervention.

That combination of institutional defence and fiscal constraint sets the political context for tomorrow's ministerial announcement.

On the broader Budget picture, Mulino cited a fiscal position he described as over $230 billion better than the inherited trajectory, with debt $176 billion lower than the projected path. He flagged savings across multiple areas alongside a productivity agenda, but declined to announce specific tax measures. He indicated that tax reform will feature in the Budget and that the Economic Reform Roundtable's consensus themes — intergenerational fairness, productivity growth, and a simpler tax system — will guide the government's approach [TA-260421-treasu-1b749b5e0921].

The deliberate withholding of detail on tax is consistent with a Budget-eve communications posture: signal direction, preserve announcement impact.

The opposition's response came from Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonathon Duniam rather than a shadow counterpart directly aligned to treasury or NDIS portfolios — a framing choice worth noting. Duniam made a partial concession, acknowledging that more should have been done on NDIS costs, but pressed the government on why four years were needed to act and questioned whether NDIS cuts represent the primary lever for budget repair [TA-260421-treasu-1b749b5e0921].

On housing, Duniam argued that supply-side measures have not delivered the homes Australians need and that tax reform and deregulation — specifically environmental approvals — are necessary to unlock private-sector construction rather than additional public spending [TA-260421-treasu-1b749b5e0921]. The opposition's positioning on housing and environmental approvals sits adjacent to, but distinct from, Mulino's framing; it signals a forthcoming Budget argument over whether the government's productivity and tax reform agenda addresses the structural drivers of housing affordability.