Labor ditches NDIS committee’s planned European study tour

EXCLUSIVE: Labor has abandoned plans to send MPs on a European trip to study disability services after fierce criticism over priorities during an NDIS cost crisis.

A parliamentary NDIS committee has decided to ditch plans to send five MPs on a junket to Europe to learn about disability services abroad after criticism it showed Labor’s priorities were “all wrong”.

Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on Wednesday decided not to nominate for a parliamentary trip to the UK and Sweden sending five members for up to 10 days in December, as revealed by News Corp.

“My understanding is that the NDIS committee has reflected on this question over the course of this morning, and will not be taking up that trip,” he said.

“There is lots of work that parliamentary committees, obviously, including this one, can do to assist the Government in that task and that work should best be done, frankly, here in Australia.”

Mr Butler said the government had a “really serious agenda” to get the NDIS “back on track and secure its long term future for hundreds of thousands of Australians living with disability and their carers and their families”.

“This is a proud Labor legacy, the NDIS, and we’re going to do everything possible to make sure we secure its long term future,” he said.

The NDIS commitee has pitched a trip to Sweden to learn about disability services in the country.

The cost of business class flights alone would have totalled an estimated $70,000, based on the average Qantas fare from Sydney to London, then Stockholm and returning to Australia that month.

The committee, which is chaired by Labor MP Libby Coker, has five government members, three from the Coalition and two from the crossbench.
No individuals had been confirmed to travel if the trip nomination was successful, but a spokesman for Opposition leader Sussan Ley had said the plan showed Labor’s priorities were “all wrong”.
“While NDIS costs spiral and services face cuts without a plan or consultation, their committee wants to spend taxpayer money flying overseas,” he said.
“Australians with disabilities deserve better.”

The committee is chaired by Labor MP Libby Coker. Picture: Alison Wynd

A Coalition MP on the NDIS parliamentary committee planning the study trip to Europe said he hadn’t volunteered for the “junket”, describing it as “completely out of touch”.

Coalition assistant NDIS spokesman Phil Thompson is one of the 10 people on the cross party committee, but said he would “not be attending” if the proposal to send five members to the UK and Sweden went ahead.

“I don’t think the NDIS committee should be travelling to the UK to go on some junket when there’s significant issues that need to be addressed and listened to here,” he said.

“It’s out of step with what community expectations are for what a committee should do.”

Mr Thompson said the committee could source information about best practice overseas by inviting witnesses and submissions remotely.

He said if the trip did take place the Coalition would have to be represented, “but it will not be me”.

The proposal for the Europe trip described the “objectives” as helping members to “gain insight into the delivery of disability services” in the two countries, with specific consideration given to regulation of providers, the role of independent regulatory bodies and “parliamentary oversight” of services.

The Coalition has criticised the NDIS commitee proposal to travel abroad. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsika

The parliamentary committee has proposed learning from the UK system, where 69,000 people with disability directly employ more than 130,000 personal assistants, on how to regulate the NDIS without burying service providers in red tape.
While from Sweden the plan to was to look at how the different levels of government shared responsibility for improving accessibility.
It comes as Labor has pledged rein in the cost of the scheme, expected to reach $52.3 billion this financial year and grow to about $105bn within a decade without further reforms.

Health, Aged Care and NDIS Minister Mark Butler last month signalled Labor wanted to go further than its target of limiting growth to 8 per cent, down to under 5 per cent.
“After we achieve our current (spending growth) target, a further wave of reform will be needed to get growth down to a more sustainable position,” he said.
Mr Butler also announced plans to move children with mild autism and development delays onto an entirely different system.

Different Australian parliamentary delegations travel internationally each year, with a bipartisan cohort last making the trip to the UK and Sweden in 2023 to discuss issues including defence co-operation, trade and investment.

Ms Coker told parliament the NDIS was “life-changing” for many Australians, but acknowledged it was “not without its flaws”.

“We also know the scheme relies on social licence and families, providers, advocates and the disability sector working together to get the best outcomes for people with disability,” she said.

Originally published as Labor ditches NDIS committee’s planned European study tour