National Disablility Insurance

Sue O’Reilly, who has guest written today’s column on The Angry Cripple is a freelance journalist and the mother of a 21-year-old son with cerebral palsy. She co-founded Australians Mad as Hell last year with Fiona Porter to campaign for an NDIS and established a charity called Fighting Chance to help people with disabilities pay for essential therapy services.

Q: What do disability reform campaigners have to do to persuade Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to spend some time talking to actual people with severe disabilities and family carers, prior to making a landmark decision on disability reform later this year that will directly affect the lives of several million Australians every day for decades to come?

A:  Raise at least $31,200, obtain tickets for the federal parliamentary press gallery’s exclusive annual mid-winter ball, and then bid at an auction for a few hours of our political leaders’ precious time.

Yes indeed. Seems if you’ve got enough money, then getting Julia Gillard’s or Tony Abbott’s attention is not that seemingly impossible a task.

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