On Wednesday, 22 April, Australian Health Minister, Mark Butler announced plans to slash the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
In a National Press Club Address, Health Minister Mark Butler , sympathised with people scared of the changes. He savaged “organised crime”, “shonks” and “rorters” who are ripping off the scheme.
Thing is, this emphasis on “shonks” and “rorters” has only been recent. It’s almost as if Labor are trying to soften the blow for people with a disability.
The fact is, these changes are ablut penalising peoole with disabilities. With the public and media’s support.
What reporters really have been talking about?
Back in March, Luke Kinsella wrote an inflammatory opinion piece in the Financial Review. Was he exposing abuse? No. Fraud? No. He was lamenting people with disabilities going out for coffees, the movies and walks with support workers. Half way down the article, Kinsella admitted:
Funding for social and community participation enables participants to have carers (ahem, support workers*) on daily activities outside such as goimg to the shops, getting a haircut, seeing a movie or going for a walk, although it doesn’t include the cost of the activity itself.
(“NDIS spends $12b on support for walks, movies, haircuts”, Luke Kinsella, Financial Review, 15 March 2026)
*My personal edit, not in the original quote. Emphasis mine.
(Side note: Kinsella (or AFR Editors) edited the headline, which originally suggested that NDIS paid for activities).
The AFR article caused a flurry of other reports and commentary on the “blowout” of the NDIS..
Greens Senator, Jordon Steele Johns attacked the journalists’ reporting on the NDIS in a speech in Parliament.
History of NDIS fear – mongering
Commentators starting raising the alarm much earlier.
In 2017, Andrew Bolt warned “the NDIS will blow out”, while reporting lawn maintenance and gardening companies signing up as NDIS providers. Some of their clients were allegedly parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One provider admitted to questioning the legitamacy of some claims.
This is when people with ASD started being scrutinised. People started throwing terms like ‘high – functioning autism’ around, despite people in the Autistic community taking issue with that terminology.
Recent Farrer election
Nobody has talked about this. This us just my theory on what is going on.
On the 9 May, the Farrer Electorate, (in southwest New South Wales), had a by – election. One Nation candidate, David Farley won in a landslide. One Nation is no longer just a threat to the Liberal/ National Party (LNP), but also Labor.
I also realised that support for the Australian Greens (who is most vocal in protecting the NDIS and everyone on it), has tanked. Farrer’s Greens candidate, Richard Hendrie, only got 2.3% of the vote. In natiomal polls, One Nation has risen in popularity, while Australian Greens has tanked.
I think Labor cracked down on NDIS participants to save their skin. They saw the media outrage, the exaggerations, the polls and freaked.
This wasn’t about justice or righting wrongs, If it was, they would have forced the NDIA to crack down on real fraud when it came to light. More unethical providers would already be shut down.
Instead, Labor sacrificed the security and peace of mind of people with disabilities for political gain. That’s outrageous.
Update: The new NDIS Act passed Parliament last week. It’s now subject to a senate inquiry.
If you have strong feelings about the NDIS, you can email a submission to Parliament of Australia. You can email them at: community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au. Submissions close 29 May.