Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today the Government’s plans to stall the introduction of compulsory independent assessments was an acknowledgement of the broad opposition to the controversial changes from disabled people and peak advocacy organisations.
“It’s pretty clear that the new NDIS Minister has seen the writing on the wall about compulsory independent assessments,” Steele-John said, “Which is a direct result of pressure from our community, who have been campaigning against them from the very beginning!”
“But, the Liberals have a track record of introducing dodgy legislation, pushing it back due to community pressure only to re-introduce it later on when everyone’s guard is down.
“This is exactly the same tactics this government used to ram the racist cashless debit card legislation through the Senate in the final hours before we parted for Christmas break at the end of last year, and it is exactly what I anticipate they will do with these changes to our NDIS.
“We must not back down now. Earlier this week we saw proof – in the form of a leaked internal document – that Scott Morrison and the Liberals are trying to kick disabled people off the NDIS and cut money out of our plans because they think that disabled people are a financial burden.
“When the plan to introduce compulsory independent assessments was announced, our community said very clearly that this proposal was just a smokescreen for blocking access and cutting support.
“Scott Morrison, the Liberals and their mates in the agency told us we were being ridiculous; they told us these changes were about “consistency” and “fairness”. We knew they were lying and now we have proof.
“Let’s be clear – the Morrison government has been gaslighting disabled people for years about their plans for the NDIS. Why would we trust them now when they say they will consider the evidence and feedback from the second Independent Assessment trial before making a decision about the future of these changes?
“As disabled people our concerns, conclusions and instincts are so often dismissed. Today’s announcement is a reminder that our collective bullshit detector is more than a match for this trash-fire government!”
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