Queensland Senate Candidates
No. 1 Candidate – Anne Vetter – How to vote Carers Alliance in QLD
Anne Vetter is married with 3 children and lives in Gympie, south-east Queensland. Anne worked for a number of years providing administrative support in the political arena and across the political spectrum. She worked for NSW Upper House member Franca Arena MLC, the National Party secretariat in Brisbane and Electoral Officer for the Federal Member for Wide Bay, the Hon Clarrie Millar.
Anne’s life changed forever when her middle child now 17 developed epilepsy and was subsequently diagnosed with autism 14 years ago. Anne has forgone further studies and has abandoned employment in order to home school her son and research programs which will provide an inclusive lifestyle for him when he leaves school at the end of next year. Through her personal experience and that of her extended family Anne has seen the dire shortcomings of a disability system which is inconsistent, unco-ordinated, inadequate, broke and broken. She has lived and seen the toll it takes on the well-being of parents caring for 3 decades and more for sons and daughters with disability with no end in sight and no hope for peace of mind.
For the first time Anne has not only joined a political party but is running as a lead candidate for a Senate seat in Queensland. She knows a National Disability Insurance Scheme is the only way to transform the broken disability system and provide opportunity and choices for people with disabilities and carer-families.
No. 2 Candidate – Vicki Horne
Vicki Horne is energetic and enterprising and has operated a family business and a small business on her own account. She had to sell her business in order to care for her chronically ill mother. Vicki is a single mother of two wonderful teenagers. Her older child has a physical and intellectual disability but no official diagnosis. This often makes accessing services difficult because the standard boxes cannot be ticked on the government forms which must be completed to qualify for service and support.
Vicki understands the effect on her younger daughter who must constantly make allowances and accommodation for her older brother. The Productivity Commission looking into the viability of a National Disability Insurance Scheme led Vicki to join the Carers Alliance and to agree to run as a Senate candidate in Queensland. She knows that the system of disability service in Australia is a dysfunctional shambles and is pinning her hopes for the future on the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme with the choice for individualized self-directed funding.