House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Disability Funding DISABILITY FUNDING Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition DISABILITY FUNDING Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): My question is to the Premier. Why did he give his personal approval to cabinet's decision to charge the most vulnerable in our society for the privilege of using essential disability equipment supplied by the state? Last week, the Minister for Disability Services, on behalf of the Premier and his government, announced a major backflip on radio when he reversed the Labor cabinet's policy decision to charge for essential medical equipment currently provided to people with disabilities. The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly Ramsay Premier Minister for Economic Development Minister for Social Inclusion Minister for the Arts Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change DISABILITY FUNDING The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:23): It just shows you how incredibly shallow the Leader of the Opposition is because it was in last year's budget papers and reported in the media last year, and I cannot remember a squeak from the Leader of the Opposition. Not only did he not speak about the River Murray at the summit—I don't know what he was doing—but also, of course, he did not speak up on this. Sometimes you have to admit you are wrong to do what is right, and that is exactly what we did: we put the interests of people with disabilities ahead of political embarrassment. We did the right thing.