Former Labor leader Bill Shorten has endured a heated interview following accusations he is not doing enough to crack down on frauds ripping off the system.
Shorten, said the minister responsible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme A current issueAccording to Ally Langdon, she is doing everything she can to hold criminals accountable on Monday night.
Her interview was preceded by an emotional story about an NDIS provider, Denise Clissold, who is accused of taking funds from the multi-million dollar disability assistance scheme for herself.
Presenting the story to Mr Shorten, Langdon said: ‘Concerns about this woman were raised with the NDIS Commission months ago. She has not been banned. Now, it’s clear that she should lose her job…and some might say the same about you.
“I don’t know where you come to that conclusion, part two, Ally, but I guess it’s your job to say that,” Mr Shorten responded.
‘It is my job to make sure these criminals and scoundrels are not part of the NDIS. The reality is that that interview you showed makes my blood boil.
‘These people are being investigated. I’d love to tell you that I can snap my fingers and ban all the bad people tonight. That would be the best result. “But we have to go through the due process.”
A Current Affair host Ally Langdon (pictured) grilled NDIS Minister Bill Shorten about alleged fraud in the scheme.
Langdon was not satisfied with Mr Shorten’s response and argued that an investigation “could take months”.
“Aren’t we protecting the wrong person here?” he said.
‘She is not banned. She’s not even suspended, minister.
Mr Shorten replied: ‘Yes, you said that before and I understood it.
‘I tell you, I went to our investigators and said, ‘It seems like a pretty open and shut case,’ and they said, ‘Minister, we have to go through the processes.’
‘But the fact of the matter is that what we saw with this person I don’t think is an isolated example. When I became Minister two years ago, I was struck by the fact that so little attention was paid to detecting fraud, catching criminals and eliminating them.
‘In the last two years, we have doubled the number of researchers. We have implemented: there were no systems to catch people. There was no way to check whether the claims were inflated, duplicated or even hidden.
“The tools we had when I became minister were not adequate to monitor the scheme, so we are implementing changes in parliament as we speak to improve fraud detection and prevention.”
But Langdon pressed on: “So you think the NDIS is in good shape at the moment?”
Mr Shorten defended the service system, saying it was “changing lives and doing great work”.
“I think the truth is that the majority of service providers are probably doing the right thing, but there is a minority who seem to regard it as a divine right to fleece disabled people, investors and taxpayers, and that’s not the case. .. They are in this for themselves,” he said.
Langdon responded: “But if you can’t even stop a supplier like the one we just explained in this story, it would suggest the system is failing.”
Shorten responded by claiming he had dramatically increased funding for investigations into NDIS fraud and criticized Langdon for his direct questions.
“The other thing I have to say, Ally, and this might go a little against your style of journalism: this argument that these cases mean the plan is ruined, the plan is not ruined,” he said.
‘Unfortunately, this great Australian tradition exists among an element of the community who think they have a God-given right to scam taxpayers’ money and scam disabled people, but that’s not the whole story.
‘I am grateful for having raised these issues. I actually mean it. Because it only draws attention to criminals. But what we also have to do is…
Langdon interrupted: “But we can’t even stop criminals.” That is the fundamental problem.’
Mr Shorten, growing increasingly frustrated, told her: “That’s not right, Ally.”
—Just because an investigation didn’t convict people tonight on their show doesn’t mean we throw away due process.
“The one thing I won’t do is let a criminal go free, Ally, just to get a quick comment here tonight.”
Langdon tried to interrupt him again, but Mr Shorten quickly told him: “No, no, wait.” You had your chance.
‘You wanted me to get rid of criminals. I get up every morning and do it. Every morning we pursue this.
‘But what we have to do is get the budget. We already have it. Get the people. We are hiring them. We have to get the right technology to investigate claims. And I have to implement the laws.
‘I’m glad you’re interested in this topic. But you know, you hinted to me a little bit earlier, that you’ve been chasing me for the next few months on the show; you interviewed me 100 times on the Today show when you were there, you never mentioned the NDIS once.
‘This, to me, is not just a late-night television story. This, for me, is a 24-hour passion.”
Langdon replied: “Wait. Do you want to take it this way?
‘We are talking to each other now. And think about the people at home who want answers about the NDIS. What we hear from people who write: It’s not fast enough. We receive emails about the NDIS every day.
“People come to us as a last resort, because they feel like the system doesn’t listen to them.”
Mr Shorten responded: ‘But you know what? In fact, you are right. And I said before: I appreciate you exposing these things.
Shorten (pictured) defended his action against ‘criminals’ ripping off the NDIS and criticized Langdon for repeatedly interrupting him.
Ms Langdon then steered the interview towards reports that Mr Shorten’s speechwriter had been paid $620,000 over two years, which she described as “a bad look”.
Shorten claimed he was “not responsible for negotiating her (the speechwriter’s) contract” and described the revelation in Parliament on Monday as “some kind of cheap Liberal tactic”.
‘But the NDIS, which is what you brought me here for, I just want to say to your viewers: I hate criminals. I helped set up the plan. “These people have no place in this,” Mr Shorten said.
