MEDIA STATEMENT
24 June 2026
The deal struck between Labor and the Greens is a disgrace.
The Greens had an opportunity to stand up for Australians with disability and ensure proper scrutiny of one of the most significant reforms to the NDIS in years. Instead, they chose to help Labor push through a their toxic taxes and settled for little more than an eight-week delay and a handful of vague promises.
Let’s be clear about what they didn’t secure.
They didn’t secure additional public hearings. They didn’t secure a guarantee that the opportunity to make further submissions would be reopened. They didn’t secure a commitment that Australians with disability, their families, carers, providers and advocates would have a genuine opportunity to have their voices heard. They didn’t secure a single amendment.
What they got was an eight-week extension and a series of motherhood statements from the Minister that amount to little more than “trust us”.
For all the rhetoric from the Greens about protecting people with disability, when the moment came to deliver meaningful scrutiny and transparency, they folded to support their socialist friends in the Labor Party.
The Coalition was prepared to work constructively on an extended parliamentary review of the NDIS reforms. We have consistently said these reforms should be examined properly and that stakeholders deserve the opportunity to be heard.
Instead, Labor and the Greens have stitched up a dirty political backroom deal designed to give Labor the numbers it needs to levy an extra $280 billion in higher taxes and give the Greens a headline they can take to their supporters.
The reality is that NDIS participants have been used as bargaining chips.
Labor got the votes it wanted for higher taxes. The Greens got a headline. NDIS participants got nothing.
Even more concerning is that senior Greens figures are publicly saying they still want to stop the “cruel NDIS cuts”. If that’s the case, what exactly did they achieve? Australians are entitled to ask whether this entire exercise was simply political theatre.
The Greens have delayed reforms they claim to oppose, secured no meaningful additional scrutiny, and in return helped Labor impose higher taxes on housing, investment, savings and small business.
That is not standing up for people with disability. That is selling them out.
The deal also includes a fresh attack on self-managed superannuation funds.
At a time when Australia is facing a housing shortage and affordability crisis, Labor and the Greens have agreed to ban new borrowing arrangements through self-managed super funds for residential property investment.
True to form, this Prime Minister never mentioned it before the election. It wasn’t part of Labor’s original proposal. It simply appeared as another concession in a grubby backroom deal with the Greens.
The consequence is obvious. Less private investment. Fewer housing projects. Fewer homes built, which means rents will continue to rise.
When Australia desperately needs more housing supply, Labor and the Greens have chosen another policy that will discourage investment and make the housing crisis worse.
The Coalition has been saying for years that a vote for the Greens is a vote for Labor. This grubby deal proves it.
This entire deal reveals the priorities of both parties. Their priority was never securing proper scrutiny of the NDIS. Their priority was never increasing housing supply. Their priority was never helping Australians get ahead. Their priority was getting a tax deal done.
The Coalition supports a sustainable NDIS that delivers for participants now and into the future. We support cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse so support is directed to those who genuinely need it.
But we also believe reforms of this magnitude deserve proper scrutiny, transparency and accountability.
Australians deserve better than secret negotiations, backroom deals and legislation traded like political currency.
This is a bad deal for NDIS participants. It is a bad deal for housing supply. And it is a bad deal for Australians who simply want the opportunity to work hard, save hard and get ahead.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au