Sky News with Andrew Clennell - 21 April 2026

Melissa McIntosh MP 

Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services

Shadow Minister for the NDIS

Shadow Minister for Women

Federal Member for Lindsay 

21 April 2026

Transcript 

Sky News with Andrew Clennell

Topics: NDIS

E&EO … 

Andrew Clennell          

Well, the government is moving to tighten control over NDIS spending, as we've reported, as pressure builds over its rapid growth. Big speech from the Minister, Mark Butler tomorrow. Shadow NDIS Minister Melissa McIntosh joins me live now. Melissa McIntosh, if the government has a real go at cutting the NDIS, will you support that?

Melissa McIntosh

Thanks, Andrew. I think your words ‘cutting the NDIS’ are really important. They don't get our support without any control around that support. When we're talking about cuts right now, we are hearing a lot from people across Australia that people that are really vulnerable, with severe disability are getting their plans cut without any consultation. The Coalition does not support that. What we do support is working with the government to bring down spending of $50 billion dollars a year and growing, and to reduce the rorting that's going on. Australian taxpayers are paying around $5 billion a year on these rorts, which isn't surprising when around 94% of providers are not registered. So, we'd like the government to have a good plan. Right now they're scaring Australians. Every time the government's been floating an idea over these last couple of weeks, my office lights up with phone calls and emails of people who are terrified about the future, and the future they have under the NDIS. So, if we have a plan from the government that the Coalition can support that still prioritises vulnerable Australians, does reduce spending, brings quality back into the NDIS, gets rid of the rorters, then the answer is yes.

Andrew Clennell

Well, where do you draw the line? I suppose someone has to come off the scheme to reduce the growth and I do wonder, how do you feel about this speculation that psychological services might be taken out of the NDIS? Apparently, in early sort of federal, state negotiations the feds were raising this.

Melissa McIntosh        

This is a really interesting one, Andrew, because it wasn't sitting within the NDIS originally. So it was with the states, and then it shifted across to the NDIS, and then now is potentially going back to the states. But even in that process, a lot of people have fallen through the gaps. You're seeing this play out on the streets of Australia. I walk down my High Street a lot, and there are people there with severe mental health issues, things like schizophrenia, they keep going into our public hospital, they can't get beds, or worse, they get turned away, and sometimes, sadly, the consequences of that are deadly. And this is happening across the country, and this is because psychosocial support has fallen through the gap. So if we're moving things like this out of the NDIS, we have to make sure the government does that, it's not just a cost shifting exercise - that there are supports there in place to pick up this much needed service for people with severe mental health issues, and the states are ready to step in once again.

Andrew Clennell

So, I mean, you don't oppose some of that coming off, but you want a plan for

how that's dealt with, so mentally ill people don't slip through the cracks. Is that the position?

Melissa McIntosh

That's right, and it's the same with Thriving Kids. So, the government's wanting to move young people with, I guess more moderate autism off the NDIS, to go back to a state-based program, but we don't know how that's going to work. Providers are saying they've got no information from the government, and we're already hearing that young people are falling through the cracks, they're getting pulled off the NDIS, but they're not immediately getting that support through another system. So, if this is the way that the government's treating Thriving Kids with children with mild autism, you hate to think what they'll be doing with adults who have severe mental health issues. So, the supports have to be in place. Yes, we know that the system needs to be reduced, and if the government can find ways to do it, but don't drop the supports. Don't cost shift. That's what that's the issue that we're looking at right now.

Andrew Clennell

I understand, don't cost shift but you must concede, some people and some categories have to come off this scheme otherwise we're going to keep seeing this 10% growth a year, like someone has to miss out unfortunately. Do you concede that?

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, it has to go back to what it was originally set up for, providing support for those who need it most, our most vulnerable Australians, and put quality back into that. We know there's been rorting, we know that the pricing of the NDIS isn’t working; somebody could call up a gardener and they're getting charged one price and then when they say they're going to use their NDIS plan, it quadruples in price. So, the wastage within the scheme, the rorting within the scheme, the issues are not just one Andrew, it's not just about moving some people with some form of disability off, it is multi-pronged. The government needs to dig right into the running, the management, everything to do with the NDIS, pull it apart …. can’t sustain it. Do you know what, nobody knows what sustainability within the NDIS actually means. It can be interpreted in multiple or completely different ways by different people. So, you know, the government needs to get this right but just make sure that vulnerable people are still at the heart of it, and they are getting the support they need, and we're very happy to work with them on the rest and reducing the cost.

Andrew Clennell

There seems to be a real distaste around means testing, that prospect. I mean with childcare, it's a pretty high test that subsidy, it's $500,000 for a couple. Should we look at something like that for the NDIS?

Melissa McIntosh

I think if that was going to be looked at, and we know that Mark Butler opened the door to this and within a couple of days it was quickly slammed shut by the Prime Minister. Actually, that alone caused distress amongst so many people on the NDIS, and it stopped because they've got loads of money, and they think that it’s going to be the opportunity missed to be getting a freebie from the government. Some of the things that people with disabilities require are really expensive so you could be a middle-income earner but you might have a very disabled child, and you do need that support from the NDIS, or you could be a child that's getting the support and what happens if you turn 18? There's just a lot, a lot of detail that would need to be fleshed out and worked on, and it needs to be evidence based before means testing should be considered. It should not be just a simple idea floated by the government, because that's caused a lot of distress over these last couple of weeks.

Andrew Clennell

Melissa McIntosh, thanks so much for your time.