00:01The government has identified what are the sort of low-hanging fruit elements of the
00:08NDIS that they can crack down on, including fraud and dodgy or unregistered providers,
00:14but that alone won't be enough to deliver the kinds of savings being flagged in the
00:21upcoming May budget. The Treasurer says savings from the NDIS will be the lion's share of the
00:27savings package presented in that budget three weeks away. And that is fuelling speculation that
00:35tomorrow, when Mark Butler delivers his press club address, there could be changes announced to
00:41eligibility for the scheme or the way that plan budgets are administered. We know that Labor,
00:49for some time now, has been talking about the scheme no longer operating in the way it was
00:55intended, and that there's a desire to ensure that it is still sustainable. But it's currently
01:02growing at a rate of 10 per cent per year, and the government wants to see that halved down to
01:08about
01:08five or six per cent. The Assistant Treasurer, Daniel Molino, was asked about the kinds of changes
01:14that could be coming. Didn't pre-empt a whole lot, but did have this to say.
01:20Well, I'll let Mark Butler talk to the specifics. But what I can say is that our priority is going
01:26to be that we continue to provide high-quality care for those that most need it, for those with
01:32permanent, serious, long-lasting disabilities. And that is going to be something which can only
01:39be achieved if the scheme as a whole is sustainable. Now, to that end, the Treasurer is meeting with his
01:46state and territory counterparts this afternoon to discuss the changes that Labor's got coming down
01:53the pipeline, and also to impress upon them the urgency that the government is hoping they uphold
02:00their end of the bargain. In 2023, a deal was struck between the federal and state governments
02:06to set up what's known as foundational supports outside of the NDIS. That's assistance for children
02:14with developmental delays or low-level autism to sit outside of the scheme. And there's also
02:20the Thriving Kids program that's due to kick off in October, though Queensland still hasn't signed up
02:27to that program. So plenty of issues still to iron out. But today's meeting really is to impress upon
02:35state and state and territory Treasurers that unless they come to the table, the scheme's sustainability
02:43is in question.
02:45Speaking of the budget, Sarah, there are growing calls for a new 25% tax on gas exports.
02:51There are. A parliamentary inquiry that's being led by the Greens on that very issue kicks off in Parliament today.
03:00So we've seen calls from the Greens as well as independents like Senator David Pocock here in the ACT
03:06calling on Labor to increase the tax that gas exporters pay to 25%. Now, we've heard from a Labor backbencher
03:18like Ed Husic that it would be a missed opportunity if the government didn't introduce that kind of measure in
03:25the upcoming budget.
03:26So we've heard from Cabinet Minister Pat Conroy that, you know, while Ed Husic's contributions are valuable,
03:34that's a matter for him. So you sense that there is a bit of a rift among the Labor caucus,
03:40but also
03:41probably the Cabinet as well about the way to proceed. We know Treasury has modelled prospective
03:49changes to taxing gas profits, including the way the petroleum resource rent tax operates.
03:56So with three weeks to go until the May budget is handed down, plenty of balls still in the air.
04:03This inquiry will hand down its report before then.
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