The last few months have been something of a rollercoaster for the crip community in this country. First the news of reforms to the NDIS, then just this week we've witnessed Labor completely shit the bed in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. 

Bill Shorten, federal minister for the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme), has proposed a suite of reforms to the scheme in an attempt to reduce its annual cost increase to 8%. These reforms have been met with concern and uncertainty from the disability community, and, if implemented, promise to further complicate an already Kafkaesque system. If it ain't broke don't fix it! Or more accurately: if it ain't broke but just terribly designed, yet is at least kinda doing the bare minimum, don't TRY to fix it only to fuck it up even more, Bill, because you clearly don't know what you're doing, and don't actually care about disabled people, which is why it was designed so terribly to begin with...

If you won't take my word for how bad these reforms are, just know that Pauline Hanson supports them, and we know this because Bill Shorten held a special meeting with Pauline Hanson to secure her support.

Then on Wednesday, the government released its long (four months) overdue response to the Royal Commission, which did absolutely nothing to alleviate the concern. Of 172 recommendations for which it was deemed at least partly responsible for implementing, the Labor government accepted just 13 in full - less than 6%. Labor did not accept recommendations to end the forced sterilisation of disabled people, establish a bill of disability rights, appoint a minister for disability, or end segregation in schools and workplaces. 

Does Labor hate people with disabilities? It certainly seems so!

To those who have been following along with this government's response to the genocide in Palestine, however, this should be of little surprise. It is this Labor government, after all, that allows the arms manufacturers supplying Israel to operate unencumbered. It is this Labor government whose ministers cry 'anti-semitism' when criticised for supporting war crimes. It is this Labor government that refuses to intervene as Israel kills, maims, and injures tens-of-thousands of people; refuses to intervene as Israel weaponises disability as a tactic in its campaign of terror.

With their blatant disregard for the lives of disabled Palestinians, our would-be 'leaders' speak loudly and shamelessly of their true nature as ableists. We cannot afford to stay silent; we must tackle this ableism at its root. Crip liberation is a shared liberation, and our struggle is shared with disabled people the world over. To permit the existence of such a violent, destructive ableism in Palestine can only undermine our own struggle.

We call again on disability organisations to join us in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Together, we may realise our shared power; together, we may use it for the betterment of all people with disabilities.