RSS Feed
July 22nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The nuts and bolts of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will be at the top of the agenda when federal and state leaders meet this week for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
Premier and chief ministers will converge on Canberra for the COAG forum on Wednesday.
On the table will be the $1 billion insurance scheme and discussions about the education system.
The NDIS is scheduled for trial from mid-2013 for 10,000 people with permanent disabilities and set to be expanded to 20,000 a year later.
States and territories are vying to host launch sites, with NSW and Victoria launching a joint bid to trial the scheme in the Hunter region, near Newcastle and the Barwon region, near Geelong.
NSW has earmarked $200 million for the Hunter launch but the Victorian government wants federal government to hand over additional funding.
South Australia has pledged $20 million and joins Western Australia and Tasmania in bids to host launch sites.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman wants the NDIS but says his state won’t contribute any funding.
In April COAG leaders called on its select council on disability reform to complete further work on funding, governance and the scope of eligibility and support of the scheme.
The education system will be a focus with the Gonski review, which has recommended a $5 billion injection from state and federal governments to improve it.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has described Gonski as a very big challenge for state governments to implement big changes with very big financial costs.
Crossbencher Rob Oakeshott said last week the government response to the review is at risk of going off the rails because of a dysfunctional federal-state relationship.
The government is working through the review’s recommendations and draft laws could be brought before parliament by the end of the year, with the old funding model due to expire at the end of 2013.
Mr Newman is also set to bring the impact of the carbon tax to the COAG table, in tandem with Victorian counterpart Ted Baillieu.
Mr Baillieu is concerned about inadequate compensation for the states and the timing of the carbon tax’s introduction.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hit back ahead of the meeting, accusing Liberal premiers of running a dishonest campaign on health costs when the carbon price is factored into health funding.
The states have used an analysis by Liberal MP Andrew Laming which estimates the cost of the carbon tax on hospital beds of between $1044 and $2400 this financial year.
A spokeswoman for Ms Gillard said the prime minister, after striking a historic agreement on skills reform at the last COAG meeting in April, would work together with state and territory leaders to decide the first launch sites for the NDIS.
A push would be on for all leaders to commit to financial commitments to kick-start the scheme.
“The Commonwealth provided $1 billion in funding for the NDIS launch in the recent federal budget and along with many in the community, now expects all states and territories who want to participate in the launch of the NDIS to make concrete financial commitments to starting this very important social change,” the spokeswoman told AAP in a statement.
“The Commonwealth welcomes the contributions that have already been made by some states in their recent budgets.”
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
