FORMER Labor leader Bill Shorten has heard locals' concerns about the National Disability Insurance Scheme during a visit to the Redlands ahead of the federal election.
Shadow NDIS Minister Shorten, who was flanked by Bowman Labor candidate Donisha Duff, believed the scheme had gone backwards over the past four years under the LNP.
More than 60 people gathered at the Cleveland Queensland Country Women's Association Hall on Tuesday for a Labor-hosted NDIS forum.
Mr Shorten said people were unhappy with the scheme's management and described the meeting as a "sorry roll-call" for the federal government.
"There is a lot of frustration, anxiety and stress out there," he said. "The NDIS shouldn't be a second full-time job for people just to access modest payments.
"Everyone there had a horror story, so it is not just us imagining it. The truth is it's just not good.
"The truth of the government's cuts are scary. The facts are scaring people, not us."
Ms Duff said the major Redlands election issues were all health-related and ranged from disability support to aged care.
"There are families that talk to me every day about the stress they are going through because there is so much administrative burden placed on them," she said.
"It is about them supporting or caring for people who they love to have the best quality of life and actually contribute in some way.
"I have door-knocked probably about 700 doors since last year and the high-end issues are around health and cost of living too, in terms of accessing health."
Victoria Point resident Jill Aitken was complementary of the scheme and said it had helped her 39-year-old son, who was living on his own and receiving care five nights a week.
"There are things that can be better, but on the whole, I can say we have been serviced very well," she said.
"Our biggest concern now is continuity when we're not around. So I would like to see a bit more checking of providers to ensure what they say they do, they do."
Mr Shorten said there were some amazing stories connected to the NDIS, but there was a "crisis of confidence" in the government's commitment to the scheme.
"Everybody who deals with the NDIS, if they have an OK experience, they worry that the next one won't be," he said.
"Impairment can happen at birth, it can happen in the blink of an eye on a country road and it can happen just through the onset of illness.
"I think Australians don't mind their taxes being used to provide a safety net, so something that is a fact of life doesn't cause more hardship than it has to."
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