Bill Shorten faces a big test in Maribyrnong in the next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will be challenged by a young woman with complex disabilities on a Fix NDIS platform for Democracy First. This will be the most watched seat in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
#Millions<\/a> of people are deeply disappointed with the way #NDIS<\/a> has been botched as an important social reform. It was intended to personalise supports for people with disabilities through #individualbudgets<\/a> to purchase supports to suit each individual. In fact, service providers #seized<\/a> the money, #aggregated<\/a> it to meet their organisational priorities, and perpetuated the old #providercentric<\/a> paternalistic disability industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It became a #gravytrain<\/a> for everyone except vulnerable people with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NDIS confirmed for the nation that #careerpoliticians<\/a> are not very good at social reform or government. #BillShorten<\/a> went from Scotch College to Melbourne University to a union official position in the #AustralianWorkersUnion<\/a>. Of course, he has never worked in an occupation covered by that union (storeman, packer, driver). He became #NationalSecretary<\/a> of that union in 2001 aged 34 never having held a real job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2007 Bill Shorten became a Labor politician for #Maribyrong<\/a> in Victoria. Then he became #Minister<\/a> for NDIS. He’d never thought about disability before. And he has still never held a real job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NDIS sums up the failure in #leadership<\/a> and #publicgovernance<\/a> that we have witnessed in every area of policy in the last 20 years. Good ideas become debacles because career politicians with no experience of the real world find themselves managing billions of dollars of taxpayers money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they fail. ___ Our #DemocracyFirst<\/a> candidate in Maribyrong aims to have 1,000 volunteers on the ground. She will represent every #user<\/a> of services who has ever been humiliated by #bureaucrats<\/a> and intimidated by #lawyers<\/a> in disability, mental health, veterans affairs, aged care and welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says: “#Hi<\/a> all you may not know who I am, but I’m the person who has complex disability but still goes in to fight for your loved one when they are faced with the #AAT<\/a> or #Centrelink<\/a> or the many other areas they might need support.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’ve won multiple #cases<\/a> and access requests. I specialise in cases that are #rejected<\/a> and I don’t ask the person I’m advocating for for any funds unless they are able to afford it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, there are people like this in the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can easily #mobilise<\/a> 1,000 people from across Melbourne to support our #FixNDIS<\/a> candidate in Maribyrnong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We want another 1,000 outside Melbourne to donate to support her win the seat The process is important. #Disability<\/a> and #mentalhealth<\/a> people and their families and carers have been taken for a ride by politicians, bureacrats and providers for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n