2022-04-29
Preparing for denticare, reflecting on the final budget of the Morrison Government, legislating Maeve’s Law, centering disability issues in Parliament and gearing up for the May election
By Senator Jordon Steele-John
Can you believe we’re just weeks away from the federal election? It felt like we were waiting in agony for *ages* for Scott Morrison to call the damn thing, and now suddenly here we are on the home stretch of the campaign, and we’re so so close to having the opportunity to re-elect our Greens (WA) Senator Dorinda Cox.
It’s been an absolutely chock-full couple of months since my last report, so here’s a bit of what my team and I have been up to.
Launch of free dental care
This month, a key focus of our office has been the launch of our denticare announcement. In short: the Greens plan to bring dental into Medicare for everyone. It’s a really fabulous initiative that’s well overdue and, excitingly, it’s entirely within reach if the Greens are in the balance of power after the election.
Millions of Australians put off going to the dentist to get the proper dental care they need because they can’t afford it. That’s because while you can go see a doctor using your Medicare card, you’re on your own when it comes to your teeth. That doesn’t make any sense!
We need to extend Medicare to cover dental care so that everyone has access to the healthcare they need when they need it. Under our plan, orthodontics, scale and clean, tooth extraction, bridges, crowns and more will be free and accessible to everyone with a Medicare card.
The Greens secured free dental for kids into Medicare in 2012. Now, we want to finish the job by securing free dental care for everyone. I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Reflections on budget week
Did you watch the budget announcement in March? I don’t blame you if you didn’t – it was, as most things from this government are, full of hot air and no actual substance.
In short, it was a shameless last-ditch plea for votes in the dying days of a totally shambolic government. Through this budget, it’s clear they can’t and won’t keep people safe, nor even remotely manage the economy.
Instead, the Morrison government is selling us out while trying to distract us with insulting little treats. There’s billions of dollars for coal and gas projects. There’s tax cuts for the wealthy. There’s no new money for affordable housing. The fuel excise reduction was welcome, and the one-off payments to people on income support and tax offsets to wage earners are … something, I guess? But they’re so devastatingly far from what is needed.
As the Guardian put it, the government is simply serving up spoonfuls of sugar aimed at re-election. It could not be more obvious.
The good news is this will hopefully be the last budget the Morrison government will ever deliver – now that’s something I can get on board with.
Passage of Maeve's Law and NDIS bill
You might recall in my last update I shared that my team and I had been working hard to get Maeve’s Law – formally known as the Mitochondrial Donation Reform Bill – passed in Parliament.
Well, I’m pleased to let you know that it finally passed into law! It means the use of the IVF-based assisted reproductive procedure called mitochondrial donation is now legal, which will save many lives and prevent many families from untold suffering.
I’d really like to both thank and congratulate the mito advocates I worked with to get this over the line. It’s a truly life-changing piece of legislation that I’m so proud to have played a part in getting through the Senate in this term of parliament.
An exciting new disability campaign
Over the four or so years I’ve had the honour of doing this job, I’ve worked closely with the disability community to help improve outcomes for disabled people in this country. It’s been one of the biggest privileges of my life. But despite all the tireless work we’ve done together in this space, our community is still treated as a burden and an afterthought by those in Parliament tasked with ‘looking after us’.
That’s why the Greens are calling for the next disability minister to be someone with a lived experience of disability.
Disabled people have been shut out of policy and decision-making for far too long. We must commit to centering the needs and voices of disabled people. To me, that looks like ensuring the person in charge of making decisions for disabled people *is* a disabled person.
If the Coalition’s plans to introduce independent assessments and a bill giving the NDIS CEO unprecedented power to change people’s plans have taught us anything, it’s that we need more people in Parliament with lived experience of disability. We need more people who understand what the disability community needs – because they’re actually a part of it. And we need fewer able-bodied people making ill-informed decisions on our behalf.
It’s hard to argue against a First Nations person holding the Indigenous Affairs portfolio. This is no different.
My team and I are going to be chatting and consulting with the community to find out what their priorities are in the space, and what they want the disability minister to achieve in the next term of parliament. We’ve got a number of Zoom events coming up so please do come along!
I’m so looking forward to getting out to prepolls in a couple of weeks before we then roll into the excitement and frenzy of May 21! This is the election of our lifetime and I’m so thankful you’re a part of it and of this extraordinary movement.
See you on the other side!
Header photo: Jordon visiting Queensland to meet with Queensland Disability Network