Shorten has used that $1 billion cost blowout to target both the Coalition and Greens with methods normally used by an opposition during an election campaign.
That included bringing Hanson, who once declared she did not trust Shorten, to do a joint press conference in his office to press the Senate to pass the NDIS reforms.
“Changes (are) needed to be done and it needs to be cleaned up. And that’s why I’m here talking today and I’m supporting Mr Shorten on this legislation that’s been put forward,” Hanson declared.
Bringing Hanson into the parliament’s ministerial was one thing. In the house, Shorten went even harder, explaining the type of services and goods his proposals would stop being funded under the NDIS.
“At the moment, we want to rule out the payment of strata fees; fines; steam rooms; gambling; legal cannabis; cruises; trips to Japan; non-assistance animals; taxidermy; weddings; gift cards; the Liberal favourite, sex toys; crystal therapy; cuddle therapy; clairvoyance and tarot (readings),” he told the parliament.
It was the first time since parliament sat in 1901 that sex toys have been referenced in the House of Representatives. Crystal therapy and taxidermy also debuted because of Shorten’s commentary.
An unusual pairing … Pauline Hanson with Bill Shorten in his ministerial office.Credit: James Brickwood
Apart from listing the types of services that have been funded under the NDIS, Shorten has set up a website (www.outoftouchwithcostofliving.com) that gives a running tally of the cost of delaying reforms to the service. That website will run until at least the Senate committee reports.
He has also hit the phones of people outside the parliament who hold sway within the Liberal Party, to effectively embarrass their elected representatives into changing tack.
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Shorten’s main message is about the cost of a program that threatens to overwhelm the budget.
The NDIS is expected to cost taxpayers $48 billion this financial year, the budget’s third-largest expense behind GST grants to the states and the age pension. Shorten’s measures are aimed at bringing down the annual increase in the cost of the scheme from around 14 per cent to 8 per cent.
If that rate of growth is not reduced, or savings are delayed, there is a substantial future hit to the budget.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated if the cost of the NDIS grows at 9 per cent, rather than 8 per cent, the scheme will cost an extra $19 billion annually by 2034-35.
Shorten says if it continues to grow at 14 per cent, the cumulative total hit to the budget over the next decade will be around $250 billion.
He argues bringing the NDIS under control not only helps the budget, but is a form of micro-economic reform that will deliver benefits to taxpayers, recipients and the broader community.
If he is successful, it also means he has shown parts of the Cabinet that there are different ways to publicly push the government’s agenda.
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