Senator BILYK (Tasmania) (15:22): What a disappointing answer the Minister representing the Minister for the NDIS gave today in question time. She was asked three questions first up by Senator Brown. She took two questions on notice, and she made one 'we don't comment'. Then, when asked by Senator Gallagher about the total underspend on the NDIS in the fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, interestingly enough the minister did not deny that there was an underspend. But what she did was say, 'Well, I'll bring the budget books in'–a sort of condescending answer that, to be honest, I didn't expect from Senator Ruston. But she did not deny at all that there was an underspend, and that tells us a lot. Responsibility for the management of the NDIS has been with that side of the chamber, as a third-term government, for a very long time now. I think it was Senator Brown who said there have already been six different ministers in the last six years. You can't get someone to really commit to it on your side, I presume. We've now got Stuart Robert as the minister now, who is just failing so abysmally in the management of this important scheme. This scheme is there to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in Australian society. And what do you guys do? You stand up and read out some facts. You make it sound good, but the reality is that you are not making the scheme work. The scheme is not working. Senator Rennick: Yes, it is. Senator BILYK: It is not working, Senator Rennick. You've ripped billions of dollars out of the NDIS. You've failed to address the exodus by the executive of the National Disability Insurance Agency. You have now been without a CEO there since April—over a hundred days. You haven't even bothered to replace the CEO there. That's just a disgrace. But what you are doing, and what your side seems particularly intent on doing, is propping up the budget. And how are you doing that? You're doing that by underspending on the NDIS, while people living with a disability are missing out. They're missing out on care and support that is so important to their everyday living. Your government could take much more action on making sure that people get to live with dignity. And what do you do? You go along and cap the staffing levels. What does that do? Let's think about it. You cap the staffing levels, people go to their specialist and their doctors, they get told what their needs are, they get support for it, and they go along, but there are no staff there to deal with the issues. People are on waiting lists that are months long even to get their plans looked at. It's a disgrace. I'll tell you what: for somebody with a person in their family who lives with a disability every day, this is exceptionally close to my heart. You would not believe how close to my heart this is. And when I hear stories and have constituents come to me and tell me that they've been denied something by the NDIS that will make their life just that little bit easier, and they're denied it even though their GP, their medical specialist and their carers have asked for it, I think you guys should hang your heads in shame. It is an absolute disgrace. And I have seen that so many times you would not believe it. Senator Scarr said, 'People should go and talk to their members and senators.' Well, you know what? The system should work better than that. People should not have to— Senator Wong: They do! Senator BILYK: They do, Senator Wong—absolutely. They come to us all the time. But they should not have to. The system should be working so that people can get their needs met so that they can live with dignity. It's pretty easy for you guys, sitting there in your little ivory towers. Do you have anyone in your family living with a disability? Do you have anyone in your family who is a paraplegic or a quadriplegic? Because I tell you what: if you did, I think you would be looking at this whole thing a little bit differently. You wouldn't be standing up and reading out pages of gumpf when the minister representing the minister in this place cannot tell us and will not even say that there is no underspend. She did not say that; let's be very clear— (Time expired) Question agreed to.