NDIS battle: Curtis to demand Morrison hands over funds

Queensland believes the Turnbull government is withholding almost $100 million in ­NDIS funding.

Queensland Tresaurer Curtis Pitt.

The Turnbull government is withholding almost $100 million for Queensland’s rollout of the ­National Disability Insurance Scheme, state Treasurer Curtis Pitt will allege this week.

In an escalation of the dispute between Queensland and the federal government over disability funding, Mr Pitt will use his ­budget speech tomorrow to attack the federal government’s handling of the Disability Care Aus­tralia Fund.

The fund was set up in 2014 to reimburse the states and the federal government for spending ­incurred in relation to the NDIS, and is filled with money raised from the Medicare Levy increase.

In tomorrow’s speech, Mr Pitt will say the federal government’s budget shows Queensland should receive $1.293 billion between 2016-17 and 2020-21 from the fund. He says the state is already owed $94.1m for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years. “This is our money, this should not be contingent on terms and conditions the federal government is trying to impose retrospectively,” Mr Pitt will say.

“We have fulfilled the terms and conditions previously agreed, and deserve access to the money, which funds important services for vulnerable Queenslanders.

“Queenslanders have been contributing to this fund since 2014 and are yet to receive a cent (despite) the Queensland government … delivering services as agreed.”

Mr Pitt wrote to Scott Morrison on Thursday demanding immediate access to the funding. He said he understood the federal government believed a National Partnership Agreement was needed before the payments could start. “However, I understand negotiations on a ­National Partnership Agreement and ­access to the DCAF have been held up by a lack of communication on this issue from the commonwealth,” Mr Pitt wrote.

Federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter rejected Mr Pitt’s accusations that the federal government was withholding funds, and said Queensland had been offered an initial payment of $52.8m as long as an initial written agreement was signed.

Mr Porter said a separate, longer-term agreement would be required before any more payments could be made.

“This is just another poor ­attempt by the Queensland government to shift the blame on to anyone but themselves for not being able to manage their own budget,” he said.

“So rather than withholding funding, the commonwealth is acting in good faith by providing an initial payment — greater than the offer provided by the ­former Gillard government — while a longer-term agreement is ­negotiated.”