NDIS reforms achieve nothing ‘but helping the federal budget’
Labor’s plan to cut NDIS participants’ social and community supports in half are more about protecting the government’s budget bottom line than helping people with disability, a disability solicitor has told a Senate inquiry.
Speaking to a Melbourne inquiry, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service’s principal solicitor Naomi Anderson said people misunderstood the value of social and community participation payments. Anderson said the payments allow NDIS participants to conduct daily tasks and make them “visible” members of the community.
“The necessary tasks of life, shopping for food, clothes, getting your haircut, going to the dentist, appointments with doctors, specialists, scans, pathology, go to the gym, access therapies, whether NDIS funded or not, all the things everybody else does when they leave the house,” Anderson said.
“Cutting this support in half is short-sighted and does not in any way improve the NDIS, reduce frauds and rorting or achieved anything but helping the federal budget,” she said.
“The NDIS was supposed to give people with disability and those who support them confidence that they can build a life with the security that the supports they need will be there. This bill does the absolute opposite of that in so many ways.”
Consumer confidence falls due to cost-of-living, Iran war, budget
Consumer confidence has fallen as the nation’s shoppers become increasingly pessimistic due to the cost-of-living, the war against Iran and the federal government’s budget.
The closely watched Westpac-Melbourne Institute measure of confidence slipped 2.9 per cent this month to be close to the lowest level in its 50-year history.
Pessimists outnumber optimists by almost 20 per cent, with people particularly concerned about their family finances now and over the coming 12 months.
Westpac’s head of macro-forecasting, Matthew Hassan, said inflation remains uppermost in the minds of consumers, with only the war against Iran shading it as an issue.
NDIS changes will ‘push more families into crisis’, says former senator
Labor’s sweeping overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is being inspected in a brief Senate inquiry today, as the government seeks to recoup $35 billion from the program by removing 240,000 participants.
Addressing the panel of Senators in Melbourne, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, head of Children and Young People with Disability Australia, has slammed the changes, saying the government is moving the program “move away from the fundamental rights-based principles on which the NDIS was founded”.
“If the bill proceeds in its current form, it will represent some very dangerous changes that would impact the lives of people with disability,” Kakoschke-Moore said. “We would not recommend that it passes in its current form.”
“On paper, these reforms are designed to achieve billions of dollars in savings. In reality, that will push more families into crisis, result in cost shifting to already oversubscribed or even non-existent services, and lead to poorer outcomes for people with disability,” she said.
Kakoschke-Moore formerly served as a Senator for South Australia, representing Nick Xenophon’s party, now known as Centre Alliance. She said the disability community had wide concerns about the changes, but was willing to work constructively with the government to find a middle ground.
Disability advocacy groups and medical peak bodies will appear before the inquiry today. A further two days of inquiry will be held this week in Canberra.
Allan attacks Hanson, vows to fight against sexism
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has responded to questions about the controversial “Ditch the Witch” advertisements circulating around Melbourne.
Trucks with billboards featuring the phrase, alongside images of Allan wearing a black pointed hat, have been travelling around the city for about six weeks. They have been heavily criticised by politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
On Monday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told Sky News: “No wonder they call her a witch … I feel sorry for the people of Victoria.”
During a press conference on Tuesday morning, Allan accused Hanson of “barracking for bullies”, as she vowed to continue fighting against all forms of sexism.
Watt: Liberals have ‘no supporters left’ to donate to their party
Environment Minister Murray Watt has defended the Labor Party’s calls for donations from its supporters to counter One Nation and said the Liberal Party had asked for donations too.
The difference was, he said, that the Liberals had “no supporters left”.
“We’re asking the Labor Party supporters to donate to our party, that’s what your party does as well,” Watt said to Liberal MP Ted O’Brien during a panel on Nine’s Today show on Wednesday morning.
“The problem for you is that you have no supporters left; they’re all going to One Nation.
“You’ve got to look at yourselves, and people are walking away from the Liberal Party and the National Party, and yet you blame Labor. We’re just going to focus on what Australians need, which is more assistance with cost of living, and that’s what we’re trying to do with those tax cuts.”
ICC chief prosecutor suspended pending decision over sexual misconduct allegations
In an unprecedented move, the embattled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was suspended from his duties after the court’s oversight body referred British barrister Karim Khan for disciplinary proceedings.
The 56-year-old is facing allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years. He has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
A final decision on Khan’s fate is now up to the Assembly of States Parties, the body that oversees the ICC, which will hold a special session to decide if he can remain in his job at the global court.
The assembly’s executive committee said Khan’s suspension pending its meeting was “not an indication of the final outcome”.
Nine sells Pedestrian
Nine has sold youth publisher Pedestrian to independent publisher Vinyl Group for an undisclosed fee, the company’s chief executive, Matt Stanton, told staff this morning.
The decision to sell the company came after a strategic review of the business and several years in a tough advertising market, Stanton said.
“Through this process it has been determined that the Pedestrian Group will be best placed for growth by finding a new home with Vinyl Group. They are eager to work with Pedestrian Group to continue the momentum built up as a result of the team’s hard work.”
Nine slashed jobs from Pedestrian in 2024, with the latter’s then chief executive Matt Rowley leaving during the cost-cutting exercise. Pedestrian and Nine also exited many of its third-party publishing deals with outlets such as Gizmodo, Vice and Refinery29 at the time.
Stanton also said the company has sold its stake in Future Women, a professional women’s workplace platform, to its managing director, Helen McCabe.
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir under investigation in Italy over Gaza flotilla
Italian prosecutors have put Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir under investigation over the treatment of activists who were part of a Gaza flotilla last month, a judicial source said.
The source, who asked not to be named, confirmed earlier reports by Italian news agencies and said that Ben-Gvir was being investigated on suspicion of torture and kidnapping of Italian citizens who were among the activists.
If the probe determines charges are warranted, prosecutors could lodge a formal request for trial.
In response to the Italian investigation, Ben-Gvir said in a statement: “I will not shy away from one investigation or another and will continue to stand proudly alongside our fighters.”
Managing director defends ABC’s collaboration with Grace Tame
Sticking with the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks defended the broadcaster’s collaboration on a podcast about autism with former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
Marks said he understood why people objected to the project, but that it had begun before Tame chanted “globalise the intifada” at a rally earlier this year.
“When we engaged her for the project … it was before those particular comments that were made,” he told Radio National.
“I understand why people feel Grace shouldn’t have a program on the ABC, given you know the controversy that’s reported and associated with many of her comments, but I think if you look at the program itself, you know, it’s a great podcast that she’s done, a great job on a topic that I’m sure will be of real interest and real importance to many Australians who suffer from those conditions.”
Asked whether it was appropriate for radio presenter Charlie Pickering to weigh into the debate, Marks said: “He did express that they were his own views. They weren’t represented at the ABC. It was a little bit on the hop and a little bit not, so I think you know we felt comfortable that we were able to accept that his comments weren’t a breach of the ABC code of conduct.”
Disagreement over future of ABC’s news division led to director’s exit, says Marks
ABC managing director Hugh Marks said disagreement with outgoing news director Justin Stevens on the future of the broadcaster’s news division led to the veteran leader’s departure.
“Maybe we felt there were different directions to pursue,” Marks told ABC Radio National.
“A lot of people, particularly in the live news area of the ABC, I think, feel stretched and pressured, and that’s because we’ve added services to what we do.
“That’s a problem that I know I’ve got to solve.”
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