Ms Jacqui Browne:

I thank the Senator for her questions and general comments. I am a bit confused about one question but I will address that presently. On the funding question, we need to be very clear when we talk about resourcing and developing the capacity of DPOs through funding. This is not about funding individual disabled people. Importantly, this is about developing the representative voice of disabled people by disabled people about issues of concern to disabled people. We need to have that clear, open and transparent, with no hoodwinking. It is important we design and develop everything properly. As for who should be involved in that, I hope that at this stage of the meeting members realise that there should be nothing about us without us. If there is only one message they take from today, that might be it.

On the PA question, the Senator confused me a little but I think she realised in her own way that, in asking the question, she was confused herself. She seemed to suggest there is a problem with a PA attending a political meeting with a disabled person. Is that correct?