Queensland premier Campbell Newman says that the states and territories are close to a deal with Canberra on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, despite the fact that his government insists it cannot pledge more money for the scheme.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Newman said that last night, state premiers offered Prime Minister Julia Gillard a ''breakthrough'' on negotiations around the scheme.
''She was offered I think a real win last night by state premiers,'' Mr Newman said.
State and territory leaders are meeting in Canberra today to discuss the NDIS under the auspices of the Council of Australian Governments.
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. It is expected that the four launch sites for the scheme will be announced later today.
There is widespread political support for the $8 billion per year disability scheme, but there has been disagreement about how the NDIS will be funded.
The states would like the Commonwealth to provide 60 per cent of the funding needed. The federal government wants the states to provide that proportion.
The deal offered by the states last night is understood to be closer in line with the Productivity Commission's recommendations (that would see a greater proportion of federal funding) than the Gillard government's proposal.
Ms Gillard is also understood to have offered the states and territories more than the $1 billion she has had on the table to fund four trial sites four years.
It is reported that the federal government will increase its contribution to a Hunter region launch site from $150 million to $300 million.
Yesterday, Mr Campbell restated his position that Queensland could not afford to contribute more funds to the NDIS.
The Queensland Premier expressed fears that Queensland would ''ultimately be the Spain of Australian states.''
Treasurer Wayne Swan labelled Mr Newman's comments ''reckless and irresponsible''.
''Saying Queensland's going bankrupt can resonate across the global financial community and could seriously damage Queensland's standing in financial markets,'' Mr Swan said.
Mr Newman said he was prepared to support a launch site at Gympie in Queensland if the federal government provided the funds.
But Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin dismissed the Queensland government's two page letter on the matter, saying it was not a ''serious expression of interest''.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said every state and territory was facing budget pressures, but his government had allocated $212 million for disability services of which $20 million was specifically for the NDIS.
''We have certainly made a very strong representation and we have put $20 million of new money on the table,'' Mr Weatherill said.
With AAP
