Thursday, 7 April 2022

Ministers statements: COVID-19 testing

Mr CARBINES (Ivanhoe—Minister for Child Protection and Family Services, Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers) (14:33): I rise to update the house on the actions that the Andrews Labor government is taking to keep Victorians with disabilities safe during the pandemic while the federal government of course cuts COVID health funding. Today our government is announcing free rapid antigen tests for at least the next three months to eligible people with disabilities, particularly in the lead-up to winter. It is a $12 million initiative that is going to give peace of mind to people with disabilities and their families and the medical care that they need, without the financial burden, to support them to live safely. NDIS clients, disability support pensioners—and we know what pensioners think of the Prime Minister this week—will be able to access those and collect those free RATs from current testing sites and through our network of disability liaison officers. Two million free RATs are going to be available under this initiative. It is a really important program for those with disabilities and their families. There are over 1.1 million people in Victoria who identify as having a disability. That is a lot of families let down by those in Canberra. We know the Morrison government is cutting NDIS plans. They are sitting on money that should be spent on the 133 000 Victorians who are NDIS clients, a fund that we also contribute to here in Victoria. We also know that that $1.5 billion in cuts to COVID health care that were announced in the Morrison budget just this week continues to undermine Victorians. We know in particular that for those with disabilities the COVID pandemic does not discriminate, and it comes down most harshly on those who are vulnerable in our community. That is why this $12 million initiative for free RATs, up to 2 million RATs that we are making available for people with disabilities, is going to provide great comfort and support to them. As the Victorian Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott said:

… one of my priorities is making sure that people with disability can access as many RATs as they, their support workers, carers, and family need.

It is exactly what the Andrews Labor government is doing with this initiative.