ABC Sydney Mornings with Hamish Macdonald - 9 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

 

9 June 2026

 

Transcript

 

ABC Sydney Mornings with Hamish Macdonald

 

Topics: NDIS Senate inquiry, polling

 

E&EO

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Melissa McIntosh is the Liberal MP for Lindsay in Western Sydney, also the Coalition spokesperson for the NDIS. A very good morning to you.

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Good morning.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

What parts of this are you opposed to? Because I know you're in agreement with the government that savings need to occur. What is it that you disagree with?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

I think most Australians are in agreement around savings need to occur, because it's $50 billion a year. I just don't want this to be a tick and flick exercise. I'm really hearing it from people who have a disability and their families. I have been, since Mark Butler made the announcement to cut the NDIS without any consultation, so the government's now consulting after the fact, and that's why I pushed so hard for this Senate inquiry. There's multiple things, so the social and community support is causing anxiety with people, and this isn't about surfing lessons, or you know, people going off and having a good time. It is ensuring that people do still have a connection to community and don't become isolated, and we don't return to the dark days of people being shut off from the world. I think that's really important. So, any savings there really need to be scrutinised, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned looking into the legislation more and more around the government's whole framing around fraud and misuse, and you know, corruption and crooks and things. There's very little in the legislation that brings the fraud under control or reduces the amount being lost in the Scheme each year, which is about $5 billion. So, we've got participants with high anxiety, yet fraud really not being touched here, and I hope some of that comes out in the inquiry over the next few days.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

I thought things like certification, for example, of providers, was aimed at dealing with fraud.

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Yes, that and the payment system are two parts of that. So it does, but doesn't reduce the amount, so it hopefully does tighten up the system, because 96% or so of providers not being registered has enabled, you know, rampant wrongdoing within the scheme, and we can't have that because people are suffering at the other end of that, and you hear stories of people having a good time on taxpayers' money, so that has to stop. But rushing this means that is not thorough detail on how to address fraud.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Can you give us a specific example of what you mean about a good time, because this kind of - every time we discuss changes to the NDIS, we hear examples of things that, okay, if they're in a tabloid newspaper and sort of designed as a clickbait story, yes, it seems probably, to most people listening, outrageous that perhaps a particular device is purchased for someone who's living with a disability. But then we might hear from someone that actually provides the services within the NDIS that will ring in and say, look, I know how this sounds, but if we provide, let's say, a kitchen device for someone that might seem like an excess, but actually that device enables someone that's an individual living on their own with a disability to cook and prepare meals for themselves rather than needing a carer to turn up three times a day, seven days a week to make the meal, then that's actually ultimately a saving. What do you -

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Well again, that's where it gets complex.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Yeah, so I want to know where you stand on that, because I think it's very easy to have quite sensational conversations about this and say look, people are having a good time. What do you mean specifically?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Well, and this is where, coming back to the registration process, where people haven't had to have the controls, or you have overcharging the system, like the wedding tax, where someone calls up and says I want a cleaner, and when they say it's NDIS, they charge, you know, four times the amount. So it doesn't have to necessarily mean criminality, although we can even talk about that, because those questions were asked of Jenny McAllister just last week around really bad criminals receiving the NDIS. So, it goes into multiple complex layers of what fraud, criminality, and even just all taking advantage of the system actually means, and that's why it needs to be cleaned up. But my point around this particular piece of legislation is that it doesn't really do anything to address that component, yet the government's whole framing of losing a social licence over the last couple of years, the way that they've built their narrative has very much been around addressing fraud, and you heard that in the way that Minister Butler addressed the reason why they're doing this.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

But what's the example, Melissa McIntosh, that you're thinking of when you say people having a good time, what's a specific example of that?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Because, and I'm not going to go into, you know, every tiny little bit of detail, but there are, and I've heard in my office people coming to me around providers who have maybe not done the right thing by people, and they've, you know, the way that they've charged the pricing structures has enabled them to live a good life off taxpayer money.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

What's the example? The substance matters here.

 

Melissa McIntosh 

This is the example that I'm giving you. I'm not going to name it a specific person or a provider, that's not a very good idea.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

I'm not asking for that, I'm asking you for a specific example of where you think someone's having a good time.

 

Melissa McIntosh 

This is an example, and then you've also got around, and this is why the social and community supports are being targeted around holidays happening, and this is very clear, because again, we've heard about, and it's come through in evidence that people have misused, I guess, or taken advantage of the social and community supports when they should really be there to enable people to still been in touch with with society and not to be, you know, pushed away and to not have exposure to community, which I think is really important.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

So people taking holidays, that's what you're talking about?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Well, this is where the community supports has gotten a negative connotation around it, but we can't just have a broad sweeping brush through that without addressing what this does provide for people. So I'm on the side of participants here, there's high anxiety across the Australian community, and I want to ensure that anything that does get done, is done right, so people who do have a profound disability aren't having their plans cut with sweeping ministerial powers without any consultation, which is a risk. They are processed in an adequate timeframe. Right now it's 21 days, and this legislation pushes that out to 90 days, so what goes on with people while they are waiting, and the Grattan Institute themselves, looking through some of the submissions, says that they're expressing concerns around short-term budget gains, and we know that the government's already spent its savings to do with the NDIS, so ensuring that people still remain at the heart of the NDIS is absolutely essential.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Melissa McIntosh is here, the federal MP for Lindsay in Sydney's west, also the Shadow Minister for the NDIS. You're listening to Mornings on 702. Obviously, the polls not looking good for the Coalition or indeed for the Labor Government. One Nation continues to surge, but interestingly, your party leader, Angus Taylor, has told the SMH that he blames Labor's budget for your poor polling. Can you help us understand that?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

I think, and I'm not going to put words in Angus's mouth, but the way that I interpret what he's saying is that we're all getting lumped in together, and which is clear in the polling with One Nation now outpolling Labor, is that people are fed up, and they're fed up with the major parties, and that's what people are saying is the uni party. So I think for me it's around getting back to your people, and that's certainly what I'm doing over these next couple of weeks, is becoming community MPs again. I think is absolutely essential, and that's what people are really wanting to be listened to.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Do you think the Coalition needs to take responsibility for its own lack of support rather than blaming others?

 

Melissa McIntosh 

I don't think that - I think we have been taking quite a bit of responsibility. It's something that we've been really trying to address by having our policies out early, so people know where we stand, to have a point of difference with the Labor Party, which is something that people were complaining about, a bit negative towards us, that they couldn't see the difference at the last election, so I think we are definitely making strides there, but for me it will always be about going back to your community and listening to what your people want first and foremost. You’re never too big to do that.

 

Hamish Macdonald 

Melissa McIntosh, always good to talk. Thank you very much.

 

Melissa McIntosh 

Thank you.