Kworld Trend / Pauline Hanson disability video leaked, Disability Advocacy and Rights Australia says a video of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson attacking the National Disability Insurance Scheme is “abhorrent, hateful and discriminatory” and will lead to further abuse of people with disabilities.
On Friday, Senator Hanson’s social media accounts posted a video mocking the NDIS. And access to it as part of a series featuring cartoon characters making fun of political figures and topics.
The latest video calls the NDIS a “scam” and a “rort” and accuses the Labor government of overspending on the scheme. He suggests sarcastically that people who wear their toe can access NDIS funding.
Pauline Hanson disability video leaked
A One Nation video mocking the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Which includes offensive imagery of people with disabilities, was condemned. With advocates demanding party leader Pauline Hanson remove the video and apologize.
The clip, posted on Friday, is from Pauline Hanson’s YouTube series Please Explain. And describes the NDIS as a “scam” and a “rort”.
Nicole Lee, chair of People with Disability Australia, said the video showed “insensitive cruelty”. And that it contained “offensive, inappropriate and inaccurate imagery of disability support under the NDIS”.
“People with disabilities suffer as high levels of abuse as they are, and now we are being used as cheap shots to score political points,” she said.
“Through the NDIS, people with disabilities are one of the largest contributors to the Australian economy, providing $2.25 for every dollar spent in the scheme or more than $2 billion annually,” she said.
The NDIS was legislated in 2013 and gives people under the age of 65 who have a full and permanent disability full funding for related support services. The program supports more than 550,000 Australians.
The second largest social program after pension, it cost the NDIS $35.8 billion in 2022-23. The scheme is expected to cost more than $50 billion annually by 2025-26. Labour, blaming the coalition’s negligence, has announced an independent review of the scheme, which is expected to be handed over to disability reform ministers by October 2023.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Ben Gauntlett also called the One Nation video reprehensible.
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“The use of politically motivated and callous humor at the expense of people with disabilities does not improve social policy. Rather, it creates fear, division and resentment.”
Advocacy for Inclusion policy head Craig Wallace said Hanson’s video had grossly abused the NDIS’s ability to support people on a short-term basis, and called on political leaders and ordinary Australians to condemn the video.
“The video inspires hatred against the people who have a disability and is a particularly hateful and despicable portrayal of the lives of deeply vulnerable people with disabilities that was released on Good Friday, a day of love and thought for so many people,” he said.
Wallace condemned the video’s suggestion that people with disabilities “cheat” the NDIS.
“We know that we are actually more likely to be victims of fraud, poor services, and theft by services and companies that seek to profit from people with disabilities.”
People with Disability Australia and Advocacy for Inclusion called on Hanson to withdraw the video and apologize.
The Leader of the Federal Opposition, Peter Dutton, last month suggested the coalition would offer bipartisan support for cuts to the NDIS to pay for Aukus nuclear submarines.
“It’s a very important program but it has to be sustainable,” he told ABC’s 7.30. “And if the cost trajectory of that leads to its collapse, I think the government itself has indicated that this is not sustainable.
“So if there are different ways we can provide support to the government, we are happy to do so.”
Hanson’s office has been contacted for comment | Pauline Hanson disability video leaked
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Craig Wallace, a long-term NDIS campaigner and head of policy at the ACT Inclusion Advocate. Said the video should be condemned by everyone, including national leaders:
“The video inspires hatred against people with disabilities and is a particularly hateful and despicable portrayal of the lives of people with severe disabilities released on Good Friday, a day of love and thought for so many people.”
Mr Wallace said he misrepresented that people could receive NDIS support for temporary conditions. Such as a bumped toe.
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“The reality is that the NDIS is in fact very limited and restrictive for people with a permanent. And significant disability. Many people are still struggling to get essential equipment or personal care, others have had plans cut short. And lengthy assessments and bureaucracy mean this is hardly a luxury,” he said. .
The disability scheme is set to be one of the biggest federal budget expenditures. 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 plan was ordered in October last year to reconsider spending.
