2CC Breakfast with Stephen Cenatiempo - 17 June 2026

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services
Shadow Minister for the NDIS
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

17 June 2026

Transcript

2CC Breakfast with Stephen Cenatiempo

Topics: NDIS report delay, One Nation polling

E&EO

Stephen Cenatiempo 

Melissa McIntosh is the Shadow Minister for the NDIS and joins us now. Melissa, good morning.

Melissa McIntosh 

Good morning.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

Is there any rationale for why this report has been delayed? Do we know?

Melissa McIntosh 

I think I feel like I was warning about the mess of this legislation sometime back, and I don't want to say I told you so, but I'm feeling like the delay is caused by the government just not getting its act together enough. You can see it in the details of the legislation, a lot of work, a lot of pages, but not enough meaning behind it. And now, we've pushed really hard, the Coalition has, to have this inquiry. It was over three days. People have declared that they think people might die. They were very genuine, the people that appeared before the inquiry. So, you can't ignore that. So, I think the Government might be scrambling a bit now. I certainly have big issues with just waving this legislation through. We can't ignore the fact that people have said that there could be deaths. I think it's really important legislation to get right, as you said in your opening. The Government wanted to do this to make some savings in their terrible budget, but at what cost? I think 'what's the value of a life?' I think human life comes first for any government, no matter what your stripes.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

The thing that strikes me about, well, there's two things - this seems to be a hallmark of this Government - is rush things through and then consult later, which it makes no sense to anybody in the real world. I mean, if you're going to consult, you do it beforehand, and then you come up with a result, you know, with a suite of policies that actually are based on the consultation with the people that actually know what's going on, but we, you know, even we talk about aged care, home care packages, people are dying while they're waiting for those, including the mother of one of the providers, who couldn't even help, you know, I mean, this is how ridiculous it is. We're now seeing it with the budget as well, with the capital gains tax. We'll rush that through, and then we'll consult after, but for mine, fixing the NDIS isn't that complicated.

Melissa McIntosh 

Well, I think the Government's missed the whole point, and the sentiment amongst Australians is sort out the rorting and the fraud and sort out the overcharging in the NDIS. This legislation doesn't do anywhere near enough to address those fundamental issues, and also the blowout of the NDIS bureaucracy as well, and get all the structures right, but they seem to be targeting people that this whole scheme was set up for in the first place, and we've heard through the Senate estimates that there's going to be a couple hundred thousand people pushed off the NDIS, so where are they going to go, and as you said, there's been no consultation. This is what the Government does, right across the board. They go to the election promising one thing, this was not an issue that they took to the election, and then they spring this on Australians, and then say, okay, we're going to consult after, but on something so sensitive as the NDIS, I think it would have been in everyone's interest if they did the consultation first, but perhaps they knew that people just wouldn't be happy with what they have proposed.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

So, what happens now? Do we know when the report's going to be handed down, and it will it be before the legislation is put before the Parliament?

Melissa McIntosh 

One would hope. We don't even have the full number of submissions on the Government's website yet. Over 4000 people put submissions through to this inquiry within about 10 days. So everyone was really activated, yet they haven't all been uploaded, so we, even as an Opposition, haven't had a chance to look through all the submissions, and I think people deserve to be treated right on this, because there's experts that are making submissions as well, so that has to happen. I think the Government's saying that it wants to table the report by the end of this week, but potentially Friday. One knows when you want to bury something, you do it on a Friday afternoon.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

Yeah.

Melissa McIntosh 

And then we have, we're back to Parliament next week, so it's got to go through the House of Representatives, and then into the Senate, where I think that's where the action will happen with any amendment.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

And am I right in saying this? So, once this next sitting period finishes, then there's the winter break, so the Government's going to obviously want to try and ram this through, so it can go away. I don't know if Anthony Albanese is going to Copacabana or whatever, wherever he's going, because it's Barry Manilow's birthday today, but that'll be the plan here, won't it?

Melissa McIntosh 

You're playing that song a few times today. I think they do. They'll want to either guillotine the debate or gag it, that's the expectation. They don't want to drag this out for longer than they have to, and it's clear that people are really unhappy with it. So it would be their expectation that they get this through Parliament before the winter break, but I don't think this should be a tick and flick exercise. It's human lives, people are really scared about this, and I'm really concerned that there is nothing on the other side. And Mark Butler clearly said over the weekend in the media, no one will die. Ok, he's made that commitment, and no one will fall through the cracks. Australians have his and the Prime Minister's commitment, no falling through the cracks, yet we know there's nothing on the other side.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

We also had the Prime Minister's commitment that he wouldn't change capital gains taxes or negative gearing, so I don't know what that's worth.

Melissa McIntosh 

For the 50th time!

Stephen Cenatiempo 

Indeed, or so he says. Yeah, that was a lie too, wasn't it? Do you have an advantage here in the sense that the Greens, particularly led by Jordan Steele-John, aren't going to want to see any cuts to the NDIS, so there's probably enough numbers in the Senate to overturn this, isn't it?

Melissa McIntosh 

Potentially, I don't know what the Greens are up to with the Government. They've done a few deals that we weren't aware of on some of the other issues, like the environment, so I don't know. I've worked constructively with the Minister, and I've always wanted this to be bipartisan, and I've worked well with Jordan on this issue as well. I don't think that we should be playing any tricky politics with this particular one. From the Coalition's perspective, there needs to be more done on the fraud and the corruption and cleaning up the system, like there's just not enough. That's where some big savings could be, if the Government focused on it, and then also not doing that to the detriment of people who need it most. So it's a moral obligation to not have people die. We're thinking that should be our first priority.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

Well, and you know, as I said, with the aged care packages as well. Melissa, remiss of me not to ask you, while I've got you, about, you know, obviously One Nation are all the talk at the moment. The latest polling shows that they are doing better than both the Government and the Opposition, but the thing that I think you should be most concerned about is the fact that average Aussies are willing to dip into their pocket and fund One Nation. Now that's very different to saying to a pollster, I'm going to vote this way, because they're now financially invested in this party.

Melissa McIntosh 

Well, I think you're right there. I think off the back of that, I - not to dismiss what you asked me - I put out a video with Albo on that 'liar liar' piece where he did say, you know, "for the 50th time, I'm not changing CGT or negative gearing," and that had over a million views on social media. So, yes, One Nation is appealing to Australians, but they also have tapped into that people are just fed up with Albo and his lies, and I think that is what's got momentum, because that issue across the board, I think Albo got away with it with the $275 promise of reducing your energy bills, but now it's like, okay, enough is enough. Like, what's the point of government when you're constantly not telling us the truth? And this is a whole piece around the mistrust in politicians, and it's clear because Prime Minister is constantly doing it, and he just flicks it away like it's not a big issue, but I think One Nation on this one, they've cleverly tapped into the sentiment of people just being fed up with Albo, and people just want to get rid of him.

Stephen Cenatiempo 

It's like a Jedi mind trick, isn't it? We saw you fall off the stage. No, you didn't. Anyway, good on you, Melissa. I appreciate your time.

Melissa McIntosh 

Okay. Thank you.