Albanese blanks on six-point plan for NDIS

A few hours after insisting he was across his briefs, Anthony Albanese has blanked on a key plank of Labor policy.

The Opposition Leader was asked outright to name the six points of Labor’s plan for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Mr Albanese attempted to answer the question indirectly.

“What that is about is making sure that we take pressure off people who are, at the moment, having their programs cut,” he said.

“What we will do is put people at the centre of the NDIS.”

A few minutes later, he was handed the policy plan by an adviser.

He then read the six points.

He was later asked to list the five-point plan for aged care, which he also did not answer.

It came several hours after he was asked by Today host Ally Langdon about his capacity to recall policy detail.

“You want to run the country. Shouldn’t you be across your briefs?” Langdon asked him.

“I am, Ally, I am,” Mr Albanese replied.

“Stop reading from the Liberal Party notes that they send through to people all of the time, Ally. 

“This is just an absurdity.”

It is the second time Mr Albanese has blanked at a press conference during the election.

In the campaign’s opening days, the Opposition Leader was unable to recall the cash rate or the unemployment rate.

The six-point plan was announced last month by Shadow NDIS Minister Bill Shorten.

Under the plan, Labor aims to crack down on “cowboys out there taking advantage” of the scheme by reviewing “criminal activity and fraud”.

The party plans to look into the “excessive use” of external lawyers and review the “value for money” of consultancy contracts.

For participants in the scheme, the party wants to address access to appropriate housing, ensure more flexible housing and boost employment opportunities.

Labor also plans to lift staffing caps, streamline the planning process for initial plans and introduce a review “that will guarantee plans will not be arbitrarily cut”.

Mr Shorten said Labor will also appoint a senior officer within the National Disability Insurance Agency to focus on the barriers to service delivery in regional Australia and commit to “co-designing changes to the scheme with people with disability”.