THE political road to setting up a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will be incomplete unless the two wealthiest Liberal states of Queensland and Western Australia come on board, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
Ms Gillard on Monday urged the disability sector to keep up the pressure on the states and territories to support the $15 billion-a-year scheme, ahead of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra on Friday to thrash out some of the detail.
Addressing the conference of National Disability Services chief executives in Sydney on Monday, Ms Gillard hailed Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia for agreeing to be part of the NDIS first stage, when they host five launch sites from mid-2013.
About 410,000 Australians living with a disability will be impacted by the scheme and will be closely watching the COAG meeting for signs of progress as the federal government tries to nail down key arrangements for stage one.
"So this Friday, on behalf of all Australians with disability, I will be holding those five premiers and chief ministers to their word, as they will be holding me to my word," Ms Gillard said.
"I want you to do the same. Talk to the premiers and chief ministers, the state and territory treasurers and disability ministers. Tell them that you want to see this done."
Ms Gillard stressed the importance of Queensland and WA getting on board.
"Remember that as we begin this journey, it is incomplete because our two wealthiest and most dynamic states haven't yet come on board," she said.
The prime minister also took aim at the federal coalition, saying anyone who described the NDIS as a "cruel hoax" because of budget constraints or concerns about the economy were negative "policy weaklings".
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott rejected this, saying the coalition supported the scheme, even though the question of how it would be funded was still to be resolved.
"When it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, I am Doctor Yes," he said.
The head of the Every Australian Counts campaign, John Della Bosca, said there was an urgent need for both leaders to commit to funding the scheme's transition from the launch sites to full national rollout, which is estimated to cost about $4 billion to $5 billion over four years.
His message to the WA and Queensland premiers was "the N in the NDIS is the most important things about it."
"There's an expectation that all premiers will support the prime minister in endeavours to put the scheme together," he told AAP.
While Mr Abbott did not directly pledge coalition funding for the scheme, he nominated service delivery and the structure of the NDIS as key issues.
"Yes, there are important questions of funding that are yet to be resolved," he said.
"But this is a vital journey ... and a journey on which we are all agreed the destination."
Mr Abbott committed his annual Pollie Pedal charity ride to again raising money for Carers Australia in 2013.
Queensland Disability Minister Tracy Davis hit back at Ms Gillard's remarks, saying the sunshine state fully supported the scheme and was helping to design it.
"Unfortunately, due to the financial mess left behind by the former Labor government we are unable to participate in a trial unless it is funded by the commonwealth," she said.
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