Weapons or Wheelchairs?

18/04/2024

Our Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced an increase in Defense spending of $50 billion over the next decade. This combined with the AUKUS investment of $380 billion pushes all other spending into petty cash expenditure territory.

Yet the rhetoric from governments and commentators in regard to this expenditure is deathly silence. Concurrently the expenditure on the delivery of services on the basis of humanitarian principles to allow those of us with disabilities to live our lives, via the NDIS, is greeted with faux outrage.

There is no question that there are unscrupulous service providers who are benefitting from the government funding of disability services. Equally there are people in the defense equipment industries who are probably grossly inflating their prices to take advantage of government funding.

The disparity in outrage of commentators and the general public about these areas of spending is laughable and equally sad.

Suresh Rajan