Today Show with Michael Atkinson - 17 January 2026

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

17 January 2026

Transcript

Today Show – Channel 9

Topics: NDIS; CFA resources gutted; $58 pub steak.

E&EO …

Michael Atkinson 

Let's bring in today's talkers, Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh and AFR reporter Zoe Semios. Good morning to you both. Melissa, I'll start with you. This is incredible to hear if these allegations are true and if it's found to be actually happening and the NDIS watchdog is supposedly aware of these violations. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Thank you very much and it's a terrible story. One of the top issues that comes through my office here in Penrith is around the NDIS, and the Coalition worked with the government on reform to the NDIS so hearing that this sort of thing is going on, it has to be immediately investigated. People are on the NDIS to get the support they need and if anyone is taken advantage of, if they're left in conditions that are abhorrent, which is what seems to be happening in this story, that's just not on and that's the sort of thing that needs to be acted on with urgency. And it's very, very sad as a fellow Australian, to hear that this is going on and as an Opposition, we'll stand with the government to make sure that all of these claims are investigated swiftly. 

Michael Atkinson 

Not just as an Australian, I think, Melissa, I think just as a human being, to hear this is happening is really concerning. It's confronting and there are so many people, Zoe, in this space that do wonderful work and sadly, it gets overshadowed by something like this. And unfortunately, these aren't new claims you know; something has to change. What has to change? 

Zoe Samios 

Well, I think we need to, you mentioned before that there have been investigations, and the NDIS is actually aware that there's a problem. So, if we're trying to work out what's going to change, we need to understand why nothing's actually happening. If they're aware that these kinds of abhorrent behaviours are occurring, and my guess would be a resourcing issue. I have people in my life that, you know, use the NDIS and have wonderful workers around them that do amazing stuff, but they even suffer from really long lags in getting any sort of approvals for things. Which just suggests that the system itself is probably under a lot of pressure and we probably need to, when we're looking at allocation of funding, think about how we're actually using it and whether or not we actually need more people so that these people who are having these horrific things happen to them are actually not put in that situation again. 

Michael Atkinson 

Yeah, absolutely spot on. There is so much really vital work that needs to be done in this space and as I said, there are organisations and people that do wonderfully positive work. I think of organisations like Young Care, based up in Brisbane, do wonderful work for people with disabilities. They don't need to be competing with this and people with disabilities don't need to be taken advantage of. So hopefully the scrutiny is swift and it's harsh and there is some meaningful change happening very, very soon. We turn our attention to Victoria, the government there facing scrutiny this morning after revelations the state's volunteer firefighting capacity has plummeted by 25% since 2014. Melissa, this certainly not a good look, particularly in the wake of last week's devastating bushfire. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Firstly, thank you so much to all of the emergency services personnel and volunteers that have stepped up during this time. I'm from a community that gets hit by fires and floods as well, and I know how important the work is they're doing and also know how important it is to have the right resources and to have equipment that is up to date. All of these organisations are struggling with volunteer numbers. It's hard to get people to be interested in volunteering. I think volunteering is the backbone of a really strong economy and it's part of communities and the strength of communities. So, I think the government needs to sort of answer some of these questions around the funding of the emergency services of the CFA, because they need to do very important work, as we've seen during the fires and the floods. 

Michael Atkinson 

Yeah, particularly with, as you say, what we've seen and even going back just a few years ago, the fires we saw in 2019 and 2020 down in Victoria as well. I want to change tack now, but we're going to stay in Victoria. Geez, they’re under the pump down there this week, today. Victorian pub Zoe, defending their menus after a footy star revealed he'd paid a whopping $58 for a steak. What would you pay for a steak? That would want to be a very good piece of meat? 

Zoe Samios 

Yeah, you want wagyu or something for $58 right. You don't want to be getting some of the cheap cuts, but I feel like this is a problem. I’m obviously on the Gold Coast right now, but this is a problem in New South Wales as well. I feel like I've been paying $50 for steaks in pubs for the last few months at the very least. It's just gotten completely out of hand, and I understand, pubs have to do what they have to do to make the money, but if it's going to be a really bad steak, I don't really want to pay more than $30 bucks, to be honest. 

Michael Atkinson 

I'm with you. I think $30 bucks sometimes is even a stretch. $58 is an outrage. Melissa, Zoe, great to chat to you today. Thanks so much for being with us on the Today Show on this Saturday.