Bill Shorten is overseeing Australia’s biggest fraud scam known as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which is now seeing up to $7 billion a year stolen according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission CEO Michael Phelan.
If those figures are right then that means over $50 billion has been stolen over the last 10 years which is bigger than the JobKeeper fraud.
Bill Shorten has previously said “he continually warned the previous government about the fraud and theft” but after more than 12 months in the role as NDIS Minister Shorten has achieved little even though he was warned on national TV, as per below, about the fraud problem. Why?
Bill Shorten had a perfect opportunity on Monday night on the ABC’s QandA political program to set the headlines for news websites that he will going after the fraudsters and making sure each and every one of them is jailed.
If Shorten had taken the opportunity on Monday Night that alone could have saved to government $millions by making at least some of the NDIS fraudsters think twice and decide not to chance the fraud with law enforcement closing in.
But as per the below video Shorten was weak on the fraudsters. Shorten gives some examples of the fraudsters but he uses terms like “unethical behaviour” and “price gouging” but he would have lost many political watchers at the beginning when he said “but let’s tell the truth”.
Shorten in the above video said there are six reforms, number 2 is stamping out unethical behaviour and number 3 is to tackle price gouging. Shorten had a fantastic opportunity on national TV on Monday night to tell the fraudsters the government is coming for them but he failed because his mates are now rorting the system.
Watch the below video and it is obvious that the number one reform could and should be to tackle the estimated $7 billion in financial fraud via the NDIS every year. (In the below article and video it is $6 billion but the NDIS budget has now grown to $35 billion so the estimated 20% fraud is now $7 billion)
I wrote about the NDIS fraud in August 2022 in an article titled “Bill Shorten, Labor’s version of Angus Taylor, is doing nothing about the estimated $6 Billion being stolen from the NDIS. Why?” and some people said I was too harsh as Shorten had only been the Minister since May 2022.
But the NDIS fraudsters have been well known for a long time and Shorten admitted he knew about them for a long time but he had no answers in the below interview on the 60 Minutes program in August 2022 on how to deal with them.
The NDIS do have a Fraud Taskforce that was established in 2018: “The NDIS Fraud Taskforce – a partnership between the NDIA, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Services Australia, with a focus on high risk and serious criminal activity targeting the NDIS.”
A few NDIS fraudsters have been charged and gone to jail (Click here and here to read more)
But what happens if the NDIS Fraud Taskforce detect fraud and decide not to charge people with crimes? Nothing! They suspend providers for short period:
“The Fraud Fusion Taskforce, set up to tackle fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), has contributed to another two providers being suspended for falsifying NDIS claims.”
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has taken compliance action against two Sydney-based NDIS providers and two associated individuals.
Fine Care Pty Ltd and AlliedHealth Cleaning Services Pty Ltd have been issued suspension notices, prohibiting them from providing NDIS supports and services as registered NDIS providers for a period. (Click here to read more)
It seems AlliedHealth Cleaning Services Pty Ltd, who were suspended in February 2023, has changed their name to AlliedHealth Ability Services and are back up and running given their website is live and says on the home page ” We’re a NDIS support service with a holistic approach. (Click here to see their website) Or were they only suspended for a few months after being caught committing fraud?
Why do some NDIS providers get suspended and only a few go to jail? It seems the few being charged and going to jail are just for window dressing to make it look like the NDIS Fraud Fusion Taskforce are doing something about the fraud problem.
Stealing from the NDIS is the perfect crime. Steal as much as you want and if you get caught, and you know someone at the NDIS like AlliedHealth Cleaning Services Pty Ltd, you only get suspended for a while and once the suspension is over you can go back to stealing more.
The NDIS Fraud Taskforce has achieved very little since it was set up in 2018, and maybe it was designed that way, given in 2022 as per the above video we had the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission CEO Michael Phelan go on national TV and say the fraud at the NDIS is up to 20% of its budget ($6 billion) per year.
The government did announce in April 2023 that it “will invest a further $48.3 million to fight fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).”
$48.3 million in the 2023-24 Budget will be used to crack down on fraud and non-compliant payments by funding 200 National Disability Insurance Agency staff and the development of a business case for ICT systems to detect, prevent and reduce non-compliant payments. (Click here to read more)
But the NDIS is like the Australian Federal Police, if you have a crook running it they don’t seem to be able to find much crime or corruption when it suits them as they cover it up.
Bill Shorten is the Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and was previously the leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2013 to 2019. The Labor Party under Shorten’s leadership lost elections in 2016 and 2019.
Bill Shorten has a long history of fraud and theft by stealing wages from some of the lowest paid workers in the country for his own benefit and he did the same when his crime gang took over the Health Workers Union. I outlined some of Shorten’s corrupt history last year but you don’t really need to know about Shorten’s past to know he is up to no good as a Member of Parliament.
I have no doubt Shorten’s mates are stealing from the NDIS and/or maybe getting a helping hand for tenders supplying the NDIS because that is how they have worked their frauds for years.
Shorten could have resigned after he lost the 2016 election to Malcolm Turnbull or after he lost the 2019 election to Scott Morrison and he would have found a job earning at least 3 or 4 times what he makes as a politician. So, why didn’t Shorten leave politics?
Because Shorten knows as a Minister he can make $million via fraud and theft the same as the likes of federal MP’s Angus Taylor, Barnaby Joyce, Stuart Robert and others have.
I ended my last article on this issue as per below and nothing has changed:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party need to act
The biggest threat to the Labor Party is themselves and if rusted on Labor Party supporters think turning a blind eye to Bill Shorten will work then they are wrong as those days are long past as the last federal election showed us.
If Labor thinks it’s their turn to govern and act accordingly then they will also lose seats to Community Independents at the next federal election.
Corruption in politics has to stop and on the Labor side at the federal level Bill Shorten is at the heart of it and the Labor Party needs to take action fast otherwise in a year or two the federal Labor Party will be embroiled in corruption scandals the same as the Liberal and Nationals are now.
Bill Shorten hasn’t stayed in politics because he wants to help others it’s because he wants to help himself to the public’s purse which as it currently stands, and as the Liberal Party and National Party have proven, is able to be done almost without accountability or punishment. But a true and just federal ICAC could change that fast.
Bill Shorten, the NDIS and Ministers in the previous government should be referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission when it starts next month.
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Categories: Bill Shorten
When Julia Gillard brought this scheme in I thought, yes , that’s a good idea. But right from the start it should have been run like Centrelink and under the Centrelink umbrella. As soon as I found out it wasn’t I knew it would be open to corruption. And this was implemented by supposedly intelligent pollies. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Centrelink is run by private companies that rip off more than we can imagine though, so being independent of that is good. The libs allowed this to happen and I am sick Shane accusing Bill of being a criminal with no evidence, only hearsay. I guess it gets clicks from anti Labor readers.
I reported on the Trade Union Royal Commission very closely and there is plenty of evidence of Shorten’s corruption mostly from Union members who were ripped off by Shorten’s dodgy deals. Here’s an example of his corruption:
Bill Shorten’s AWU ‘sold out’ workers for $300,000
A serious cloud hangs over Bill Shorten’s record as a union leader. He ran a union that took $300,000 from an employer in disguised payments based on fraudulent invoices as part of a deal that hugely benefited that employer.
That’s the damning conclusion from Tuesday’s evidence to the royal commission into union corruption, and documentary records, of former Thiess John Holland senior executive Julian Rzesniowiecki.
Unfortunately for Shorten and his then AWU sidekick, Cesar Melhem, Rzesniowiecki kept a detailed diary from his mid-2000s dealings with the AWU duo over the $2.5billion EastLink tollway in Melbourne.
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bill-shortens-awu–sold-out-workers-for-300000-20151013-gk80hn.html
Here’s another example:
Royal commission told mushroom pickers short-changed in union deal
Labor leader Bill Shorten faces his biggest test yet before the trade union royal commission with claims he oversaw an employment deal that lowered wages for hundreds of mushroom pickers in return for unusual payments to the union he led at the time.
The allegations come as his former union colleague and factional ally Victorian Labor MP Cesar Melhem, faces fresh allegations he used an industry-bankrolled slush fund to buy his way to political power. The fund, known as “Industry 2020”, was first revealed by Fairfax Media in December, 2012.
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/royal-commission-told-mushroom-pickers-shortchanged-in-union-deal-20140915-10hcas.html
A royal commission into Retirement living, NDIS and soon to be Child Care is needed & long overdue. A commission into Aged Care revealed the type of operator these huge unregulated Govt funds and subsidies attract. The number of Child Care Centers currently under construction is astounding. It would be more cost effective if the Govt. built and operated these establishments, the funding would then be directed to and reach the intended clients.
Are these the same group of intelligent pollies, that are going to make a better decisions that the High court Judges to decide any disputes if the Yes vote gets up, according to Peter Dutton?
I know where my money is going , and it is not with the politicians
Woohoo! Only a week to go before the NACC allegedly swings into action. Rorters everywhere scattering in terror as their nemesis rears up on its hind legs. Millions being shuffled to offshore havens. Passports renewed. Holes being dug to hide cash. Can`t wait to see who`s first cab off the rank.
Agreed mate, but the majority are happy being ignorant sheep… So many everyday people are heading towards financial hardship/ruin family/relationship breakdowns while those bastards smirk at us on TV while explaining more increases in inflation, blah blah… if and how many billions/millions their own major corporations are profiting from…. can’t believe how stupid this country has become
I worked for Centrelink for many years so saw what sorts of balances & checks that were put in place over the years to ensure childcare payments were NOT rorted. However, when you are dealing with massive schemes that payout billions of taxpayers money, dont you think its a magnet for ANYONE who is of the mindset that ‘its easy money” .The scheme was the invention of the Labor Gillard Govt, but the LNP won the election even before it was implemented, and although they promised to continue it, I can assure you that the LNP saw it as a way for ‘its mates’/supporters to make money, JUST as during Howards time as PM, BOTH Childcare & the Job Networks made MILLIONS for those ‘for profits’ that jumped on the provider bandwagon. With the NDIS, its even MORE difficult to ‘unscramble the egg’, as the whole scheme for 9 years has NEVER had robust & proper checks to ensure that money was spent in the ‘best interests’ of both taxpayers & NDIS recipients. I think that Shorten, given a reasonable amount of time WILL ‘fix’ the NDIS to have the same oversight on spending & value for money as Childcare does , BUT he has to NOT ONLY fix 9 years of LNP mismanagement, BUT also ensure that there are sufficient suppliers of services, probably mostly reputable NFP that will replace the ‘dodgy’ rip off merchants that are currently in place.
Very much agree with you.
Helen, Centrelink is the most corrupt organisation that I have ever dealt with (apart from the Qld Supreme Court, but that`s another story). Centrelink NEVER replied to my snail-mails, only sent forms and threats. Even went up the food chain to Henk Jongen–no reply. Tried the Com Ombudsman who eventually said go back to Centrelink. Centrelink finally agreed they had underpaid me for years via a phone call from an unidentified source. Never saw any paperwork so I still don`t know if I was ripped off. The Centrelink Facebook page shows that the battle for fair treatment is still a mirage.
The Australian Public Service is no good at fraud investigation. As a former APS senior fraud investigator, most of my battles getting cases to court were with lazy colleagues, risk averse line managers and state managers prepared to accept fraud as stopping it was too hard. Any media criticism interest could be handled by departmental spin doctors in Canberra. We used the AFP to execute warrants on our behalf. I found most of the pool officers allocated to assist other government agencies were lazy and generally useless. I was embedded twice with the AFP and did very little along with the rest of them. The AFP only like doing child pornography and drugs because convictions are easy. In short, don’t expect anything much from APS fraud investigation units.
Bill Shorten is a fake, he has slithered and knifed his way to the top and betrayed many people on his journey.
Everything Shorten does is for himself, when he was AWU National Secretary and now as a Labor politician are only a means to a lucrative end for him. Being corrupt is not a problem, he sold out on his own union members to save his own reputation, therefore most people do not care too much for Shorten and when the full story of his duplicity and hypocrisy, which can only be exposed with the new NACC he will no longer be the godfather of corruption in Australian politics. It will be left up to Victorian premier Dan Andrews.
Sam Dastyari was more genuine than Bill Shorten (and probably more honest) and look what happened to him.
Corruption is sounding like a euphemism to describe the political culture of this country. Mental illness and suicide is on the way to be as common as the cold. What a parcel of rogues in a nation.
A confidential cable leaked by Wikileaks shows federal Labor MP Bill Shorten as a power hungry sycophant and contains similar allegations from last year that the foreign power is being provided detailed inside information about government ministers and the ALP.
The cable, covering a meeting on the 11th June 2009, appears to be in part an audition piece, with Shorten presenting his Prime Ministerial credentials to the US Consul General. In the leaked document he talks about his ambition, criticises the union movement, plays up his friendship with Melbourne business elites, and is disappointed about being overlooked in a recent cabinet reshuffle.
Indicating Shorten is pro business to the extent that the knifing of popular Rudd on June 24, 2010 was essential to make sure Howard’s business-for profit continues to run all services – Aged Care, Child Care, Private Schools, Job Providers, NDIS, Private Health Funds,….with no accountability as to how our taxes are spent.
And in particular, this method of shovelling our taxes to business will result in some being donated back to the Labor ( and Liberal ) Party as a ‘thank you’.
Shortens priority.
Shorten since his exclusive expensive private school has wanted to be PM, and was in a hurry to get there after his election in 2007. Gillard was imposed as PM with the knowledge that she would follow Shorten and the Labor right faction policy.
Albanese, from the left, too has fallen into line.
Business is Shortens priority in government, why we have the massive 500,000 plus immigration numbers to 2024, and they begrudgingly promise to build 30,000 affordable houses over 5 years when we need over 500,000 now. And poorer individuals ( adults and children ) are not important as they won’t donate to Labor for funding a big election campaign.
Julian Assange, Wikileaks, knowing Shortens history since becoming a MP, and published it has meant Labor won’t help him gain freedom.
Doesn’t matter which party is in power, whatever the ruling party sets up costs the taxpayer billions of dollars.History proves this over many years. Examples such as Jobkeeper, NDIS, Covid Vaccines, sell off of energy systems, subsidies for solar panels & windmills, the pink batts fiasco, ATSIC, all indigenous support agencies, etc., etc., ad infinitum. And in most cases it involves a Minister of that particular portfolio. And where are the Federal ICAC investigations ??? Missing in action as
politicians are mostly exempt, apparently.Most pollies are smart enough not to collect corruption payments directly. They use families, mates, & hidden trusts.