24/07/2025
So well said by the ANPA. Prevention is better than a cure but if the government would prefer to pay for more hospitalisation, long term unemployment benefits and youth justice costs down the track instead then that’s the choice they are making.
AN OPEN LETTER TO Barnaby Joyce AND Garth Hamilton MP
✉️
Dear Garth and Barnaby,
20% of the population are Disabled. Yes, that much, that high, that many. Ask the ABS if you don't believe us.
That’s not a debate — it’s a fact.
Pretending Disabled people - in this case, boys - don’t exist won’t solve anything. And under international law, Australia has binding obligations to listen to Disabled People's Representative Organisations (DPROs) and incorporate our advice into law and policy.
Let’s be clear: none of us in DPROs support the direction you’re taking.
Yes — more Australians, including children, are being identified as Disabled than 15 or 20 years ago.
That doesn’t mean we’re faking. It doesn’t mean we’re broken.
It means we’ve improved at recognising disability early and intervening to support people. That is progress — and we should be proud of it.
We should be investing in Disabled children so they can grow, learn, and participate equally in community life.
When we invest early, we prevent harm later.
And harm from a lack of early supports always costs more — in lives, in hospitals, in family breakdowns, in lost potential.
15% of children in the NDIS is not a failure.
It says: “We can see you. We can support you. We won’t fail another generation the way we did in the past.”
It says: “We are a country that takes the needs of children seriously.”
Let’s get to the real crisis
Providers are not the problem, as people in your comments have stated. This is total BS.
That narrative — pushed by both Labor and the Coalition — is political spin to justify austerity.
Here’s what’s actually happening in the NDIA right now:
💔 Most small to medium allied health providers have been operating at a loss for years. The most successful are making less than 3 percent profit. The ALP created the market, and now it is blaming providers for the market it created - but actually, they hold all the cards.
💔 The pricing caps imposed by the NDIA have now made it impossible for many to stay afloat.
💔 Some small businesses are reporting deficits of over $75,000.
💔 Lawyers are now advising providers to shut down to avoid insolvency risk.
💔 Those that remain are being bought out by large corporate players, consolidating the market and driving down quality.
People have asked - why do YOU care? Why do participants give a crap about providers?
We care because this is how you kill competition. This is how you destroy diversity in service delivery. This is how you demolish choice and control in the current system, and create a CAPTIVE market. This is a return to what we escaped.
That’s why we — alongside others — have reported the NDIA to the ACCC for market distortion.
The NDIS is not broken — it’s being sabotaged.
Let’s look at the numbers:
💡The NDIS returns $2.25 for every $1 invested (Melbourne Institute & Per Capita, 2023)
💡It’s created over 500,000 jobs
💡Fraud is only 0.04% of spending annually
💡The fraud taskforce cost five times more than the fraud it detected
Wow, right?
All this destruction of plans, attacking Disabled people, their families, and small providers — just so the NDIS could be raided by the ALP in partnership with the Liberals and Nationals, to pay for AUKUS.
Grossness factor 1 billion, fam.
Meanwhile:
🫠 Kids can’t get therapy or go to school
Disabled people are dying in their homes
😬 Communities are being gutted
🙃 Small, values-driven providers are collapsing or being swallowed by corporates.
Yuck.
For our friends and allies:
You know as well as us that -
The problem IS NOT participants.
The problem IS NOT providers.
The problem IS the Agency. The problem IS government.
The problem IS the corporates and private interests who run this country behind the scenes.
The problem IS the fact that Australian politics is pay-for-play, and what you see printed in Murdoch media is largely bought and sold by rich and powerful families with their own agendas.
*hits play on Dirty Deals Done Dirt Cheap by ACCA DACCA*
Folks who know nothing about living on the breadline - like us.
Folks who know zero about needing the social safety net to survive.
Fight the real power and don't let them distract you, friends.
Stop the cuts.
Listen to DPROs.
And to Barnaby and Garth - Do your job, as outlined under International Law.
