Coalition willing to discuss further savings to NDIS
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government "[would] always look for spending to produce better value", after he was asked whether he would revisit NDIS spending, which is projected to cost $64 billion a year by 2029.
"We need to make sure that it is made more sustainable … the vision of the NDIS wasn't that those sort of numbers that you just quoted go on the system," he said.
"But you've got to be responsible about how you do it and work through with the sector because it's very easy for vulnerable people to feel like their support is threatened. We don't want that."
Asked this morning whether the Coalition was prepared to have a conversation with the government on further reforms to cut costs, Shadow Treasurer Ted O'Brien responded: "Yes, we would".
"Let's see what the government brings forward. But it is absolutely key that they have to stop their spending spree," Mr O'Brien told Sky News.
Last term, the government and opposition acknowledged that the cost of the NDIS was rising so quickly that it would rapidly become "unsustainable" without change.
The major parties agreed to a suite of reforms designed to slow its growing expense from 13.8 per cent a year to 8 per cent by 2026.
Those changes set stricter rules for what supports were available, how plans were managed, and laid the groundwork for a new scheme to be run by the states that could support some people with milder disability, who were joining the NDIS in the absence of more appropriate supports.
The reforms are projected to save the budget $19.3 billion over four years.
But while costs are falling, the latest data from the NDIS shows the scheme's expense is growing at a rate of 10.6 per cent a year — on track to reach the government's target, but still well above it.
The federal budget is forecasted to remain in deficit for the next decade.
Leaked Treasury advice to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, revealed by the ABC last week, warned that the budget cannot be fixed without raising taxes and cutting spending.
And after securing a dominant majority in the parliament, Labor is turning its mind to how to restructure the budget and put it on a more sustainable trajectory.
The treasurer has said he is prepared to lose some political skin to do so.
"I am personally willing to grasp the nettle … I am prepared to do my bit," Mr Chalmers said in an address to the National Press Club last month.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr O'Brien said all options should remain on the table for the coming productivity roundtable, where the issues of tax reform and fixing the budget will feature.
Mr Albanese said the government was not considering a proposal to lift the goods and services tax in exchange for lowering income taxes — a move that would flatten how much tax individuals pay.
Mr O'Brien warned the government against dismissing ideas out of hand.
"The prime minister and the treasurer claimed to be open-minded on everything, but since then, we find out actually: 'We're open-minded, but we don't want to talk about industrial relations. We're open-minded on tax, but we don't want to talk about the GST.' And so my fear here is Labor might actually have an agenda already, and that this is nothing but a talk fest," he said.
"[We support tax reform] if it's done holistically, if it's looking at more efficient taxation, if you're looking at fixing up what is currently a mess with Labor being overly reliant on income taxes."
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