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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-11-28 Daily Xml
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Disability Advocate

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:10): Further supplementary: your answer is that when someone has—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Yes, it's a supplementary arising out of the answer. You are saying that when a person with a disability has trouble with the NDIS, your answer is for them to ring up their local member, despite the fact that many local members have constituents of—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Would you honestly have us believe that that is the answer: that people with a disability—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I know you don't have any regard for people with disabilities but here we are being told—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: —that if they have a problem, 'You go and speak to your local member.'

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: That is the question.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley, can we just have the supplementary.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Do you honestly expect us to cop that ridiculous answer? What a ridiculous answer: go to your local member.

The PRESIDENT: Minister.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Are we all finished? The minister is on her feet.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:11): My goodness me, Mr President, don't ask your local member for assistance with a problem—I am not quite sure what that tirade was but I will attempt to answer it.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: What a nonsense answer. There's no advocate, no-one to—go to your local member. The thousands of people who are going to have problems have to go to their local member. It's outrageous.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley, I don't mind the odd interjection but not a diatribe. Minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I don't know what the Hon. Mr Wortley thinks members of parliament are here to do; we advocate on all sorts of issues. As a member of the opposition I was regularly in contact with MASCO on behalf of constituents. We all have that role. If we are all to do each other's jobs then we won't get very much done.

I may be speaking out of turn but I understand, from having spoken to the Hon. Kelly Vincent over time about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, that everybody used to take everything to her office and it was completely overwhelming. We need to be able to point people in the right direction in terms of who is able to provide assistance. My office has certainly had a 'no wrong door' approach for some time in terms of the people who come to us with individual NDIS queries and we are more than happy to follow that up with them.

If the Hon. Mr Wortley doesn't enjoy constituent work he can ring my office at any time and refer any NDIS matters to our office and we will manage them for him. There is a telephone number which we have provided to the 69 members of the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council with the contact details where there is a pretty rapid turnaround in terms of assisting people with their individual queries, if he cannot be bothered.

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