The Minister for Disability Services Judy Spence today said the Commonwealth Government must commit additional funding to disability services across the nation and stop playing politics with disadvantaged Australians. Ms Spence said State and Territory Ministers with responsibility for disability services had laid down the gauntlet to the Howard Government today at a meeting in Canberra, with a promise to commit more than $1.2 billion over the next five years if the Commonwealth increased its funding offer. Negotiations on the third Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA), which expired on 30th June this year, have been further stalled with the Commonwealth Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, refusing to attend today's meeting. Ms Spence said the disability sector in Queensland supported the Beattie Government's determination to extract further funding from the Commonwealth. "This state's Unmet Needs Campaign spokesperson, Peter Mewett, addressed the Minister's meeting in Canberra today, along with ACROD and National Council on Intellectual Disabilities representatives," she said. "All groups agree that the current offer from the Howard Government, of an extra $125 million over five years, is totally inadequate to meet the increasing needs of Australians with disabilities. "The Commonwealth has the capacity to put some real growth on the table and increase indexation, as well as provide money for existing and increasing unmet need. "Senator Vanstone has been demanding that we put five year commitments on the table and we have done that." States and Territories have already committed more than $110 million dollars of new money to accommodation and specialist disability services this financial year compared to the Commonwealth's offer of $15 million to share nationally. Judy Spence Families, Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Policy & Disability Services Source www.theage.com.au ###