States don’t feel they can support NDIS legislation ‘at this point’, says Bill Shorten

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says he is willing to strike a deal with the Coalition on reforming the $40bn-a-year scheme without the backing of state governments.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says he is willing to strike a deal with the Coalition on reforming the $40bn-a-year scheme without the backing of state governments, admitting he did not have the support of Labor premiers “at this point” for the current proposal to make the disability program more sustainable.

While states and territories agreed in December to split the cost of a new system of “foundational support services”, which would give disabled Australians with milder conditions an alternative to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, several premiers have since raised concern with a lack of detail and total cost to their budgets.

The national cabinet deal – under which the states agreed to increase the cap on growth for their annual contributions to the NDIS from 4 per cent to 8 per cent – was accompanied by billions of dollars promised by the federal government to the states.

On Tuesday, Mr Shorten said he was talking “pretty animatedly with the states” about legislation before federal parliament to reform the NDIS, which will be critical to ensuring Labor meets its target of reining in the annual growth of the scheme from about 15 per cent a year down to 8 per cent.

But in a rare concession of growing disharmony within ­national cabinet over issue, Mr Shorten conceded the state’s did not support the reforms “at this point”.

“Until the legislation is passed, I will do everything I can to make the states feel they can support it, (which) they don’t at this point. So I will give it my best shot. It’s a work in progress,” he said at his National Press Club address on Tuesday.

“The states’ fundamental fear is that somehow they will get lumped with everyone on the NDIS, or many people, it’s not right. We’ll try to negotiate with the states on our legislation, because it’s necessary. Our legislation will I think decrease the cost curve … and I think it will tighten things up that need tightening up.”

When asked if he was in a situation where he needed to “rip the Band-Aid off and force jurisdictions into filling the gaps”, Mr Shorten said he would progress his changes one way or another.

“If I can try to meet them halfway, I will. We are determined to reform the scheme. We get one chance at this,” he said.

“This is a sliding door moment of politics … so going to this issue of ripping off the Band-Aid, I will do just about everything to try to convince the states to like what we’re doing. I will compromise and … walk a long way to try and bring them on board.

“But at the end of the day people with disability are more important than any particular level of government. If we have to rip the Band-Aid off, I will.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff have both publicly raised their concerns over the reforms with Mr Shorten, writing the minister a letter and meeting with him earlier this month.

Mr Malinauskas said there was “a decided ­lack of detail” about the funding that would underpin the changes and new system of foundational supports, while Mr Rockliff said there were “too many risks in terms of cost to the state”.