Scott Morrison has come under fire for saying he and wife Jenny are ‘blessed’ their children were born without disabilities with Labor MPs leading the pile on.
The Prime Minister was asked about removing funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme during Wednesday night’s Leaders’ Debate on Sky News.
Katherine, mother of autistic four-year-old boy Ethan, said she had heard stories about families losing funding under the NDIS.
‘I have a four-year-old autistic son, we are grateful to receive funding under the NDIS. I have heard many stories from people having their funding cut under the current government, including my own.
‘I’ve been told that to give my son the best future, I should vote Labor. Can you tell me what the future of the NDIS looks like under your government?’
Mr Morrison replied: ‘Jenny and I have been blessed. We’ve got two children who haven’t had to go through that.
‘So parents of children who were disabled – I can only try and understand your aspirations for those children.
‘And then I think that is the beauty of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.’
Mr Morrison then went onto credit Labor prime minister Julia Gillard for shepherding the scheme through Parliament.
He said the NDIS helped people with disabilities live their best life, including his brother-in-law, who has multiple sclerosis.
‘He gets support through the NDIS to ensure that he has the wheelchair he needs and the aids he needs at home to work as a call centre operator and do things like that,’ the Prime Minister said.
While Katherine didn’t object to Mr Morrison’s comments at the time, his apparently clumsy use of language saw Twitter ignite with criticism and Sky News commentators to point it out as a moment of note.
Labor frontbenchers Senators Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher led the criticism, with Ms Gallagher pointing to the example of her own autistic child.
‘I am ‘blessed’ to have a child with autism. She teaches me things every day. Our lives are enriched by her,’ she wrote.
Ms Keneally retweeted her post, sharing her apparent outrage at Mr Morrison’s choice of words.
‘Unbelievably, Scott Morrison just said he was ‘blessed’ not to have a child with a disability. Parents of children with a disability are blessed too,’ she wrote.
Bill Shorten, Labor’s NDIS spokesman also weighed in, saying: ‘ScoMo says he is ‘blessed’ to have two non disabled children. Every child is a blessing.
‘The NDIS is there to help people with disability live their lives to the fullest. The Morrison Gov has slashed NDIS plans for 1000s of children around Australia. Labor will fix the NDIS.’
His comments also sparked uproar from some Twitter users who dubbed him ‘clueless’.
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