Grattan on Friday: Politics of future budgets likely to get harder for Albanese government

By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

When Kevin Rudd made Bill Shorten parliamentary secretary for disabilities in 2007, the post was a good deal less than the high-profile new MP’s ambition for a ministry.

But Shorten took to the job, becoming an effective advocate for the disability sector. Most notably, he promoted the idea of a national disability insurance scheme, which was subsequently legislated by the Gillard government.

Back then, Shorten would never have imagined that, as minister for the NDIS in another Labor government, he’d have the task of driving reform of this scheme, recognised as a landmark…

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