Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Unlike the Labor Party, who believe that the best form of welfare is welfare, the coalition believe that the best form of welfare is a job. A job brings something to a person's life that welfare can never do. It brings responsibility, accomplishment, social encouragement and, of course, financial benefits. These facts are true for all Australians and, in particular, for people with disability. Australians with disability experience significantly lower workforce participation rates than Australians without disability. This means that Australians with disability do not get to experience the benefits that a work life brings to one. Part of the reasons for this is that the DSP has been designed, effectively, as a set-and-forget payment. People with a disability apply for the DSP, they get it and then we forget about them.

I was pleased to see in the budget that the government is taking action to ensure that people with disability on the DSP are no longer forgotten. The members opposite asked me about my constituents. Unlike some of the members opposite, I came to this place directly from the real world. I used to act invariably for people at the lowest end of the socioeconomic spectrum. I spent the majority of my professional life working for people on legal aid. I want to give an example of one such constituent, whom I have maintained an excellent relationship with, whom I had the pleasure of acting for in Mount Gambier. For current purposes, I will fictionally refer to him as 'Vince'.

I was acting for Vince in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court. Courts, like this place, are open to the public and to other people about to appear before magistrates. On this occasion, I was presenting a guilty plea on behalf of Vince. Amongst other things, I made clear to the magistrate Vince's mild intellectual disability and that he was on the disability support pension. Vince was built like the proverbial. In the gallery at court, awaiting proceedings, was a significant employer in Barker. After I finished on that day, I got a phone call from this employer, who said, 'Tony, that lad of yours that you acted for today—does he want a job?' I said, 'Of course he does, but you've heard both his legal predicament and the issues with his intellectual disability.' This employer said to me, 'Tony, I'm happy to offer him a job.' I am pleased to report that that individual, many years later, remains in that employment. From time to time, we catch up and he says to me, 'You know, I never thought I'd work. I thought I'd be on the disability support pension my whole life.'

This is an example of two things: some people who are on the disability support pension, particularly people under the age of 35, as Vince was, have the capacity to work, but, more importantly, it indicated to me that there are employers who are ready, willing and able to offer employment to people with disability and give to them the dignity of employment that I referred to. So, Minister, I ask this question: could you outline the government's policy to improve the social and economic participation of people with disability in our community?

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