The Federal Community Services Minister, Amanda Vanstone, has rejected Opposition claims that the criteria for a disability carers' allowance is unreasonable. Labor claims 30,000 carers risk losing payments of about $90 a fortnight under a review of conditions for the allowance. The Opposition says the carers are unfairly asked to provide ongoing proof of incurable conditions, including cerebral palsy and Down's Syndrome. But Senator Vanstone says the cancellation of some payments is justified because children can either grow out of or learn to cope better with their condition. "Because a child of three and four might be terrified by asthma but a kid who's eight or nine might be handling it very well," she said. "You describe any review as a cold-hearted review, I think it's a fact of life that these things have to be looked at." Source www.abc.net.au/news ###