Australian Greens Disability Rights & Services spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said the vast majority of the government’s reduced budget surplus of $5.1 billion – announced today in the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook – was coming from a structural underspend in the NDIS.
“This is a government who is boasting about balancing their books on the backs of disabled people and our families,” Steele-John said today.
“A structural underspend to the tune of $4.6 billion in the NDIS means there is money that was allocated to disabled people in their plans that they haven’t been able to spend because this Liberal government has so disastrously mishandled the roll-out of the scheme over the last 7 years.
“The reality of the last 25 years of economic growth in Australia is that we’ve seen a massive concentration of wealth in the hands of a very small group of people that has lead to slower economic growth, and an explosion in social inequality.
“It’s time for us to move past the idea that a credit rating is the best measure, or even a good measure, of how well our society is functioning and start aligning what we prioritise in the budget with the values that our community holds, like caring for people and protecting the planet.”
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