Source: News
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has announced the Medicare levy will increase by 0.5 per cent to pay for Labor’s National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The average worker on $70,000 a year will pay an extra $1 a day in Medicare levies, Ms Gillard said.
She made the announcement in Melbourne this morning, and said all funds collected from the increased levy would go into a special fund to pay for disability support.
The Medicare levy will increase from the current 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent and starts on July 1, 2014.
The increase is expected to raise $3.2 billion a year towards Government’s major share of the NDIS.
The Government had previously ruled out a levy to fund the scheme.
“The choice me and my colleagues have made is that disability care should be supported by a 0.5 per cent increase to the Medicare levy,” Ms Gillard said.
“Every cent raised would be spent on disability care.”
She said the Government had hoped to fund the NDIS through savings in the Budget “but I do today say that I have thought about this deeply and I have changed my mind”.
“I want to be clear that the amount raised from the additional levy will not fund the full cost of disability care,” Ms Gillard said.
“There will be no free ride for states and territories, they will have to step up too.”
Treasurer Wayne Swan said it was vital the NDIS had a “stable, secure funding scheme”.
“The advantage of this fund is that all of the money raised from the levy goes straight to this fund and cannot be used for any other purpose,” he said.
“We are asking people to pay a little more to do a little more for those with disabilities that have been left behind.”
Ms Gillard said she spoke to state and territory leaders about the NDIS and potential increase to the Medicare levy at a COAG dinner last month.
Ms Gillard is also expected to announce a clampdown on the disability support pension scheme today.
Earlier this week Ms Gillard flagged a $12 billion shortfall in one year of tax revenues and said all options had to be considered.
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Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin spoke about a family in Melbourne who had a disabled son at the announcement today.
“(They) have explained to me how hard it is to get respite, how hard it is to get a couple of days off,” Ms Macklin said.
“How hard it was to get a new wheelchair for him as he got older.
“This is the reality for families and carers and people with a disability in Australia at the moment. This is why we need the … National Disability Insurance Scheme.”
Ms Macklin also said there would not be any further changes to the disability support pension in the coming Budget.
“I do want to assure families and their carers that this very important part of the disability support net will remain,” Ms Macklin said.
It is important to have certainty around NDIS funding, Every Australian Counts campaign spokesman John Della Bosca said.
“A levy does have its attractions… it;s transparent, people know what they’re spending their money on and that they’re getting a benefit from a social insurance scheme,” he told ABC Radio today.
“Anyone can suffer a severe and profound disability at any time.”
Mr Della Bosca dismissed comments from former Treasurer Peter Costello and business leaders claiming that now was not the right time for the NDIS because there was no Federal Budget surplus.
“Australians with a disability have waited long enough,” Mr Della Bosca said.
“It’s a question of priorities.”
GREEK WORLD MEDIA 