Prime Minister visits Fairhaven to launch NDIS funding deal
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a trip to the Central Coast last week to announce the funding agreement for the NDIS in NSW.
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THE National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will ensure “clarity and certainty for people with disability on the Central Coast”, according to Terrigal state Liberal MP Adam Crouch.
Mr Crouch welcomed the agreement between the State and Federal governments on the NDIS.
It comes after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Premier Gladys Berejiklian made a trip up to the Coast on Friday to cement the NDIS Full Scheme Agreement.
The agreement was signed at disability services provider Fairhaven in Point Clare, and sets out the funding arrangements for the NDIS across NSW.
“We’ve been in the transition phase as we implement the NDIS, and now we are the first state to reach a long-term agreement with the Commonwealth,” Mr Crouch said.
“People with disability, their families and carers deserve this certainty.”
Robertson federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks said 3000 families in the Robertson electorate are set to benefit from the NDIS, and almost 4600 across the Central Coast.
“This is a game-changer for people who are living with disabilities. It’s something that we are incredibly proud and honoured to support,” she said.
Mr Turnbull said the agreement was an indication of the partnership to secure long-term funding in NSW.
“This great national enterprise and its participants deserve to know, are entitled to know, that the funding is there to support them, now and into the future,” he said.
He said benefits to the community are “knowing that the funding for the NDIS is going to be there now and in the future”.
Ms Berejiklian said NSW was proud to be the first state to sign the NDIS agreement.
“We know Fairhaven has always been a magic place but today it becomes a historic place. It’s the first time in our nation that the state and federal government has come together to sign the NDIS agreement,” she said.
“We believe strongly in supporting people with a disability, but more importantly, in ensuring they have greater control and choice over their lives through their carers and through their advocates.”
NSW Minister for Disability Services Ray Williams said the NDIS represented a doubling of funding for disability services, and next year the State and Federal governments will commit more than $6 billion to the NDIS.
Gosford state Labor MP Liesl Tesch pointed out that under the State Government employment rates for people with disabilities had fallen from 4.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent, and asked how the State Government plans to address this issue.
Ms Berejiklian said the State Government has increasing policies to ensure that people with a disability have greater access to employment.
“I’ve made it one of my absolute priorities, because people with ability, I say, people with ability — and we’ve seen plenty of those this morning — have a huge contribution to make,” she said.
“I’m incredibly proud of the contribution people already make, but of course, we would like to see that improve and increase.”