Key Points
- One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson shared a video labelling the NDIS a scam.
- People with Disabilities Australia President Nicole Lee said the video was un-Australian.
- Ms Lee says people with disabilities already face stigma and abuse.
Australia's peak disability rights and advocacy body says a video by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson attacking the national disability insurance scheme is "repugnant, hateful and discriminatory" and will create further abuse of people with disabilities.
On Friday, Senator Hanson’s social media accounts shared a video satirising the NDIS and access to it as part of a series that features cartoon characters mocking political figures and topics.
The latest video labels the NDIS a "scam" and a "rort" and accuses the Labor government of over-spending on the scheme. It satirically suggests people who stub their toe could get access to NDIS funding.
“While a National Disability Insurance Scheme to protect the most vulnerable sounds good on paper, the reality is the NDIS has become a scandal-plagued, scam-riddled, budget disaster,” a video caption says.
In a statement on Friday, People with Disability Australia said it condemned "the repugnant, hateful and discriminatory video released today by One Nation mocking people with disability through ignorant and uninformed commentary".
Speaking with SBS News, President Nicole Lee said the video was “shocking” and not fitting with the community standards expected from politicians.
“The video is is deeply disturbing. I want Pauline Hanson to understand that this is an attack on everyday Australians and it's completely and utterly un-Australian what she's done today," Ms Lee said.
“Especially on Good Friday of all days, when we're doing things like the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday appeals, where hospitals are appealing for money to support children with disabilities.”
Ms Lee said around 20 per cent of the Australian population have disabilities, and the NDIS supported a large percentage of those people.
“People with disability already experienced large amounts of stigma, abuse, neglect and exploitation by people in the community," she said.
“Videos like this make those experiences that we have out in the community even worse, it gives a licence to people to further that abuse, to blame us for all the things that are wrong with society."
Ms Lee said the NDIS gives people the opportunity to have everyday relationships with friends, families and partners, so they don’t have to act as carers.
“We're not getting more than anybody else. We're not buying yachts. We're not buying luxury items."
'A nasty and vile depiction of the lives of vulnerable people'
Long-term NDIS campaigner and Head of Policy at ACT peak body Advocacy for Inclusion, Craig Wallace, said the video should be condemned by all including national leaders.
“The video inspires hatred against disabled people and is a particularly nasty and vile depiction of the lives of highly vulnerable people with disability released on Good Friday, which is a day of love and reflection for many people."
Mr Wallace said it misrepresents that people can receive NDIS support for temporary conditions like a stubbed toe.
"The reality is the NDIS is actually highly limited and constrained to people with permanent and significant impairment. Many people still struggle to get basic equipment or personal care, others have had plans cut, and the prolonged assessments and bureaucracy mean that this is hardly a luxury,” he said.
The disability scheme is set to be one of the federal budget's biggest expenses, with projections showing the NDIS will cost more than $50 billion by 2025/26 - more than the annual cost of Medicare.
A review of the scheme was ordered in October last year to reconsider spending.
