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Theft is the only way to describe the proposed filching of National Disability Insurance Scheme funds for farmers, who need support, but not from those with disability. The NDIS “surplus” is by no economic success of government. It is partly because participants remain unsupported because their plan is unspent for various reasons, such as market undersupply and lack of case management, not because they don’t need the support. Future plans get cut further because of the unused funds.
“Surplus” is also due to the government-imposed staff caps on the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), caps that the Productivity Commission said should be removed. Grossly inadequate staff numbers have led to months of delays for access to the scheme, delays in planning and delays in reviews of inadequate plans prepared by untrained staff. Full rollout is further delayed. Months of delay is very effective “saving”. Politicians are aware of this NDIA inadequacy (aka savings) because individual MPs are having to intervene for their constituents in crisis, as is the media.
NDIS was a fiscal recommendation by the Productivity Commission that Australia could not afford the old system that left disabled Australians lacking independence and relying on welfare, which NDIS is not. Until the NDIA mess is sorted NDIS is not fully funded.
Shirley Humphris, Geelong
The result will be anxiety among the disabled
The government defies logic again by announcing that the first $3.9billion of its $5 billion Drought Future Fund will be paid for by diverting funding intended for the NDIS. Given that the government is claiming their “sound economic and fiscal management” will allow the NDIS to be fully funded from normal consolidated revenue, they are, in effect, saying both these important initiatives can be fully funded. If that is true, the government’s “repurposing” announcement has achieved absolutely nothing except raise the anxiety levels and ire among people with disabilities and their families and carers relying on the NDIS.
Phil Bennett, Mount Waverley
Both are equally in need of money
So, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repurposed $3.9 million set aside for NDIS to pay for drought relief. Surely they are both equally in need of funding.
Susan Munday, Bentleigh East
FORUM
On the button
The call by the Committee of Melbourne to establish a Greater Melbourne Commission to oversee and regulate Melbourne’s growth is right on the button (“A tale of two cities as wealth gap grows”, The Age, 27/10).
Sadly Melbourne had such an authority – the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works vested with planning and badociated infrastructure responsibilities. However, because of political jealousies the board was deemed to be too powerful and a threat to the state government and had to go.
There is no place in planning the growth and development of the city to be left in hands of politicians and their pork barrelling. We need a strong independent commission to fulfil that task.
Fred Maddern, former commissioner MMBW, Kingsville
Vote by numbers
If Barry Kranz (Letters, 27/10) wants to avoid a “preference whisperer” directing his preferences to a candidate not of his choosing, the solution is simple. Ignore the how-to-vote card and number the squares according to your own preference. And, you only have to fill in five squares below the line to complete a valid vote for the upper house.
Paul Rodan, Malvern East
Protect the animals
Eleven years ago Zoos Victoria director of wildlife conservation and science Graeme Gillespie said, “I’m not aware of any species in Victoria being delisted or having its threatened status reduced in the last 10 or 20 years”.
It’s 2018 and nothing has changed. Last week I received images of a swath of hardwood forest near the Mitchell River National Park in East Gippsland reduced to a car park for “commercial firewood”. The trees contained century-old hollows – critical housing and breeding requirements of the greater glider and nectar and pollen resources for the nearby grey-headed flying fox colony.
While we use their housing or food to stoke our “wood-fired” barbecues or cook pizzas how are these animals supposed to survive? The need to halt commercial firewood destruction of Victorian native forests is urgent. The Environment Victoria website says that the Labor Party has “Developed a new Biodiversity Strategy leading to over $80 million investment in nature conservation”. I don’t see it.
Lawrence Pope, Victorian Advocates for Animals, North Carlton
Disturbing study
Peter Hartcher (Comment, 27/10), in discussing the disillusion with Australia’s major political parties, cites a very disturbing finding by the ANU’s Australian Values Study that “young Australians are increasingly attracted to the notion of a strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with Parliament and elections”. Leaving aside the urgent need for civics courses in our secondary schools, this finding should raise alarms when one realises that our youth will be living in a region dominated by authoritarian China and satellite nations where the concept of representative parliamentary democracy is increasingly scorned.
Populist autocrats are becoming the norm. It is not an exaggeration to describe the erratic, irresponsible behaviour of our parliamentarians as threatening Australia’s future wellbeing.
Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza
Casanova Tony
You have to admire Tony Abbott’s sense of ironic humour, or is it staggering chutzpah? His attempts to blame Malcolm Turnbull for the Wentworth train wreck are hysterical. His self-appointed role as an urger for Liberal voter unity is akin to Casanova volunteering to advocate for chastity.
Norman Huon, Port Melbourne
Two parties begone
As John Hewson points out (Comment, 25/10), the time for glib marketing is over. Australians need to vote for sensible independents, who can initiate a sane, based on science, climate-change policy. Let’s change the rider, and the horse, as it is past time to break the two-party tyranny.
Mike Francis, Fitzroy
Pluralism please
Nick O’Malley (“Off base”, The Age, 27/10) regrets what he sees as the Liberal Party “playing to its big ‘C’ Conservative base” instead of courting the “middle ground”. In principle I would also prefer a “small ‘l’ Liberal Party”. O’Malley focuses on the “culture wars” and climate change. But similar criticisms are made of Labor whenever it deviates from neo-liberalism, or is seen as “getting too close” to the unions (who are systematically demonised in most of the monopoly mbad media). Today policies such as a robust mixed economy, strong social wage and welfare state, regulated labour market, and progressive tax system – are also often depicted as “far Left”. The “centre” is relative; and has shifted radically to the right since the 1980s. What we need for a strong democracy is extensive pluralism, active citizenship with political engagement, and respect for civil liberties – including a place for protest and civil disobedience. Here, the price of liberty is tolerance – at least up to a point.
Tristan Ewins, Box Hill North
Grant query
I am astounded at the waste of taxpayer money through the Connections Project (“Senior National in hot water over $850k grant”, The Age, 26/10), a scheme supposedly designed to initiate water-saving measures in order to help to drought-proof farms. How is it that $850,000 can be given to one farmer, senior National Peter Schwarz, to not only institute water-saving measures but also to buy a neighbouring property? I have no objection to funds being provided for appropriate purposes, but cannot comprehend why on earth taxpayers are giving $300,000 to Schwarz to buy a property. There are many people who are struggling to buy a first home and I am sure that they would also welcome such a bonus but are unlikely to ever have that opportunity provided to them.
Maire Mills, Glen Iris
Market forces
As a property economist I’m familiar with the data sources and their limitations for accurate market commentary.
As houses get bigger, particularly in new suburbs, you can reasonably expect to see higher prices per house. Conversely urban infill and townhouses on tiny lots would reasonably be expected to be at lower prices than the large lots they derived from. During the redevelopment phase you see a lot of sites hit the market driving up median prices followed by a phase of increased smaller homes hitting the market and lowering the median.
If you were to badyse sales on a $ per metre square for land and for house I suspect the headlines would be about house price rises in inner suburbs. Talking the market up and down is an age-old strategy to create urgency and hopefully demand.
The levelling out of price growth per unit of housing is a good thing for owner-occupiers and tenants. We aren’t seeing an erosion of wealth except for speculative investors who haven’t understood that investing with a strategy of capital growth alone is really just taking a punt.
Lisa Marquette, Kew East
Tracks of our tears
Rail commuters should use the state election to demand equality in their transport environment. Melbourne freeways are bordered by neat landscaped gardens, while commuter rail tracks are bordered by graffiti, rubbish, ballast heaps, weeds, elevated cables, old wooden sleepers, and wasteland. Why the difference? The land near rail tracks to the city should be pleasant strips of parkland.
Malcolm Cameron, Camberwell
Weathering the . . .
Life is quite disorienting enough without the confusion of The Age’s weather map of Melbourne (26/10 & 27/10). I woke up to find I now live north of Tullamarine and east of Mount Dandenong: perhaps another sleep will fix it.
Jenifer Nicholls, Armadale
. . . Weather map
Come on guys, time to get Mount Dandenong back in the hills and set Laverton back by the water. You can keep Tullamarine in the south-east suburbs though, as it will take 30-40 minutes off my airport commute.
Anthony Burke, Park Orchards
Remember Vietnam
The recently completed Invictus Games was founded to recognise wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel from recent wars. It seems a far cry from the recognition afforded to Australian servicemen returning from the Vietnam War. Many of these were conscripts and had to wait more than 15 years to be officially welcomed home after the war ended.
Robin Parkinson, Geelong
Whither my country
We definitely have our priorities wrong when we use legal arguments to stand in the way of proper health care for refugee children; when we divert funding from the NDIS to provide future drought support (though both are worthy causes); ignore the wishes of 85 per cent of the population to spend government funding on education, health and infrastructure instead of tax cuts and dismiss the vast majority of citizens and their call for action on climate change.
Like many others I have great difficulty recognising our country as compbadion, respect, fair mindedness and moral and ethical standards are thrown out the window.
John Andrews, North Fitzroy
Life’s hard enough
Having a disability is difficult enough without living with fingers crossed. We feared funding would be cut sometime but maybe not so soon. Scott Morrison’s announcement of moving NDIS funds to the farmers comes as no surprise. (No offence to the farmers).
Di Donigi, Warragul
AND ANOTHER THING
Politics
I love this government. Every day, another trigger to make me laugh.
Tom Pagonis, Richmond
If words have value, Scott Morrison is a spendthrift.
John Walsh, Watsonia
Does political suicide come under mental health?
Lorraine Peake, Churchill
Is LNP fiscal management anything more than the old pea and thimble trick?
Margaret Callinan, Balwyn
Zero – the amount the Liberals have learned from the Wentworth byelection.
Stephen Baldwin, Frankston
You don’t leave innocent children to rot in prison either, PM.
Simon Raffan, Weegena, Tas
No doubt the Australian taxpayers are footing the bill for Tony Abbott to meddle in British politics.
Alan Inchley, Frankston
Ned Kelly didn’t steal money from banks, he just repurposed it.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills
Phew, what relief. The disabled are footing the bill for drought relief.
Joan Segrave Healesville
Furthermore
It’s about time the words “climate change” were replaced with “environment catastrophe”.
Jill Loorham, Castlemaine
Donald Trump, now a self-proclaimed nationalist, when internationalism is the call.
Andrew Remington, Travancore
Donald Trump’s solution to the mbadacre of Jewish worshippers, armed guards at the synagogue. Who would have thought?
Ian Dale, Rosebud
So Fay Knooze is up to her tricks again.
Doug Shapiro, Doncaster East
Jan Laidlaw (Letters, 27/10) recalled we were told smart meters would reduce electricity costs. But it was a politician in an election who told us.
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