Paul is now parading around town in his newly acquired $30,000 electric wheel chair.
(Repeat, wheel chair…$30 thousand dollars), supplied by NDIS. Julia Gillard anybody)?

After the expected amusing and derogatory mutual conversation on its astronomical expense of his latest steed, we did a simple analysis of the cost break down.

His is an articulated model with a prime mover consisting of a battery supply to an electric motor, and one wheel, plus a minimal frame.: breakdown cost, $18,000.

That leaves a good old fashioned free standing conventional wheel chair , cost: $12,000.

Following this example of outrage, I checked into Google for comparisons.

A moderately expensive off the shelf mobility scooter $2.500.
A standard electric wheel chair at $1.000.
An off the shelf KMart electric scooter $189.

You get the point I’m sure.

Dan

NDIS is a hideous waste of money: costing 20% more than the defence budget, apparently. You won't see this sort of indulgence in countries threatening us, like Communist China, where people are used to self-reliance, looking after themselves and their families.

While we should be able to do better for our needy than they do in China, Outer Whoop Whoop and the rest of the Third World, NDIS is a wildly expensive bloody rip off of Australian taxpayers.

The NDIS money needs to be taken back and put into defence: the Red Tide predicted in America has not happened, even though Biden is less popular than Trump was at his lowest, and inflation in the US is the highest for 40 years. America is rooted, and we really need more money for our defence.

NDIS was designed to be run by decent Public Servants not to be hijacked by Woke bureaudroids !
Their Union(s) should be asked to explain !

No one is talking about getting rid of Medicare because a subset of doctors are ripping it off. The NDIS had been managed by the LNP for the previous decade. Labor has not only acknowledged a problem but have explained how they are going to address it. Good on them.

It is at its heart a marvellous and compassionate scheme giving dignity and freedoms to hundreds of thousands of disabled Australians. It deserves es our support.

When I catch up with Paul again, I’ll ask an obvious question, why when he holds power over a sum of money allocated to him by the NDIS budget, did he not have control over spending priorities and cost including a the ridiculous price paid for an electric wheel chair.

The NDIS certainly deserves our support.

Of course there are problems as with any scheme -
but at least the government is doing something
about it. To knock the scheme because of a
few hiccups is grossly unfair to so many vulnerable
people - who are dependent on it. Unless you have something
better to implement.

Medicare is there for everybody. NDIS is an extra, unnecessary layer of expense to be rorted by an increasing number of shonky 'providers' who actually provide very little, but take the money. If SR is happy to "support" the scam with his money, good luck to him; but most of us know a con job when we see one, and we are being ripped off.

and we are being ripped off
ttbn,
Yes, because of Peter Principle & uncaring bureadroids ! It's they who cause most of the problems not just the Govts who entrust their policies to these faceless who let the whole Nation down.
The decent ones don't get promoted !

Off Topic. YAAAYYY Ron DeSantis pulling - ahead of Trump, for odds on favourite, Presidential Election 202

202 typo being 2024, of course.

How much does it really cost to have university people to come up with a good design, have parts for 1000 of the damn things manufactured in China and have half a dozen work for the dole people assemble them, with the oversight of a program director and a leading hand to oversee the quality of each assembled wheelchair.

- Even if you only knock out 6 to 10 a day it will keep a couple people employed for a few years, give the work for the dole people some factory skills and save the government millions.

On the other hand though (in the bigger scheme of things) 30k is a lot, but it's a whole lot less than some people spend on their cars, and I'd think the wheelchair is probably more important to a handicapped person than a 50k car is to someone who doesn't need a one.

I think a lot of people would be surprised at just how much money is thrown away by the government paying a whole lot more for things than it could otherwise be paying.

For 30k, you could probably buy a good quality Hiace with wheelchair access.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/slacks-creek/cars-vans-utes/2007-toyota-hiace-silver-automatic/1295154961

I remember seeing that little disabled boy who had
his specially modified bicycle stolen and after his
mum's plea on television it was later found. Medicare
does not cover useful life-changing bicycles. But
imagine the difference to the lives of the vulnerable
kids and adults that supporting a scheme that would
help - what that would do?

Surely those of us who are healthy and don't need any
support can find it in our hearts to be more generous
and understanding towards those who need help to live
normal lives. Worrying about being ripped off? Pu
that to one-side and try to remember the smile on
that kid's face when he got his bicyle back.

One professional working in the area, and often asked to approve NDIS packages, reports that the scheme will "go down as the biggest piece of public policy largesse in Australian history". It is uncapped and not well designed to set limits. There is an incredible lack of transparency and unaccountability for spending after approval. It is so bad that even some of this person's bleeding heart colleagues are converted to an anti-welfare mindset!

At $30 billion a year, the NDIS is on a par with the aboriginal industry. It is heading towards being more expensive than Medicare, and could well be so within a decade.

And it is not managing its aim of getting people into the workforce. It was supposed to pay for itself by increasing participation in the workforce. What a joke that was!

Autism is a big 'disability' gobbling up the dollars these days, with more cases than the common cold being 'discovered' - quadrupling in the last 20 years.

Disability and caring are the fastest growing industries. Australians are really in a very bad way, it seems. Oh, and sex workers are also on the NDIS payroll.

Dear Foxy,

Indeed.

I have a mate with autism impacted son. He was in tears at our kitchen table when the NDIS was announced. Up until that point his son had only had a single occupational therapy assessment with no plan in place for ongoing OT. He has a plan in place now.

Also as parents of a highly dependent child they now at least have an evening a month respite which has helped immensely in dealing with mental demands of caring for their son.

Dear Steele,

I am used to giving Storytime Sessions at the library
for kids with disabilities. It's so rewarding to
have them react.
They have their favourities of course - and it's heart-warming
when they join in.

I think their parents and carers in general - are angels.
They deserve all the help and acknowledgement that we
can give them.

Quote

Bill Shorten told the ABC that some providers were making themselves "NDIS millionaires off the backs of taxpayers and people with disability."

"The NDIS is doing a lot of good for a lot of people. But in my opinion, there's been insufficient scrutiny paid on the backdoor of the scheme," Mr Shorten said.

"The invoices come in, people aren't checked to see if the services that they're claiming they deserve to be reimbursed for have actually occurred."

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief Michael Phelan has estimated that up to 15-20 per cent of the NDIS expenditure is rorted.

"Ever since I became minister for the NDIS about five months ago, I've been shocked at the outpouring of complaints about some people taking the scheme for a ride," Mr Shorten said.

"I want to be very clear to anyone who thinks they can rob people with disability and rob taxpayers: Get off my scheme. Just get off my scheme. The party's over."

End quote.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-09/bill-shorten-vows-to-track-down-ndis-rorters/101633484

Great to see after so many years of LNP mismanagement.

DD, where are you costings coming from, seems you plucked them out of the air. When did you become a cost expert on wheelchairs? Just asking.

The envy of some on the far right whenever a program like this is implemented is nothing more than jealousy from those willing to stick their snouts in the public trough for their own benefit, and think nothing of it. ttbn is the war budget some kind of untouchable sacred cow. Here's a radical thought, how about if we spent less on aggressive militarism and more on people we might have a better society.

"It is at its heart a marvellous and compassionate scheme giving dignity and freedoms to hundreds of thousands of disabled Australians. It deserves es our support." Well said Steele

Hi Steele,

The Coalition was more concerned with driving innocent Australians to suicide through their illegal and ideologically driven 'Robodebt' scheme, plus their political motivated sports wroughts, car park wroughts, and million dollar land deals, to worry about their mates ripping off a few billion from the NDIS. Morrison, Dutton, etc etc are the real culprits when it comes to defrauding the Australian people.

Funny how we get more disabled as more money is available.

One example of the rip offs. I bought myself a large heavy duty mobility scooter. I use it around the paddocks, going down the dam to pump water up to the house & other such activities. I found 3 companies promoting themselves as suppliers to the NDIS. They had the unit I wanted priced at between $5300 & $5700, plus delivery.

I spent a few minutes on the net & found a bicycle distributor in Sydney selling exactly the same unit for $2300 delivered.

Of course I am spending my own money so was prepared to spend 15 minutes finding the most economically suitable supplier. NDIS bureaucrats of course are spending our money so don't give a dam about prices.

Perhaps we could find some decent management for the NDIS, rather than those running it, the top three executives are only paid over $1,000,000 each a year.

"Funny how we get more disabled as more money is available"
(Hasbeen).

That's right. I saw this recently:

"And like in any market, if you pay people to be disabled, more people will be disabled".

Hi Paul1405,

It astounds me just how incompetent politicians are when it comes to matters of policy.
How hard can it actually be, to sit around a boardroom table with expensive catering trays of sarnies and actually nut-out good fool-proofed policies for a particular issue.

One that manages a problem the best way possible and gets the best result for all parties?
- Whether that be the disabled peoples welfare, or value for taxpayers.

Hey Hasbeen,
"Perhaps we could find some decent management for the NDIS, rather than those running it, the top three executives are only paid over $1,000,000 each a year."

That's outrageous, - they get paid more than the PM?
If they were a regular business with financial accountability they'd be bankrupt and lined up at centrelink themselves.
They shouldn't get paid a million bucks a year for overseeing the waste of billions.

*Funny how we get more disabled as more money is available"

Why get ‘undisabled” when you can ride a thirty grand wheelchair down the esplanade as an alternative to walking and losing some weight, which is the reason you ride the thirty grand wheelchair now!

Dan

DD, you are yet to provide any costing for your claimed $30K for a wheelchair, for the mysterious "Paul". As a Paul myself I feel duty bound to stick up for the mysterious "Paul". Did you see an invoice by chance? Are you well versed in the cost of wheelchairs? Do you make a habit of accosting the disabled to check their medical bona fides?

Did find this article on the net; "Air Canada broke my $30,000 motorized wheelchair."......"Maayan Ziv got off a flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv to find her wheelchair completely destroyed." Nothing to do with the NDIS (Australia), but some wheelchairs may reasonably cost $30k.