Disability minister Mark Butler on the ‘necessary’ cuts to an NDIS ‘under pressure’

Nearly 15 years after Julia Gillard introduced the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS), the Albanese government announced the most significant reforms to the scheme on Wednesday. It’s expected the billions of budget savings will mean at least 160,000 participants will no longer be able to access the scheme within the next four years. The minister for disability, health and ageing, Mark Butler, speaks to Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy about how the cost of the NDIS became ‘not sustainable’ and the material impact of the reforms on participants. Butler’s announcements have already been widely criticised – and he responds to the government’s decision to announce sweeping cuts while also increasing defence spending considerably last week