Bill Shorten labels the last week of parliament 'toxic' as NDIS rorts ...

Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten labelled the culture in parliament last week "toxic", suggested rorts are prevalent in the National Disability Insurance Scheme and questioned the ABC for making the position of National Political Editor redundant, during a spirited appearance on Q+A.

Key points:Bill Shorten said he is looking to stop rorts being made involving the NDISThe ABC was criticised by politicians around redundanciesMr Shorten labelled behaviour in parliament last week "toxic"

The former Labor leader kicked off the show by stating that the last week in Parliament House was far from one to be proud of.

The week contained allegations that Finance Minister Katy Gallagher had misled parliament over her knowledge of Brittany Higgins' rape allegations in 202, a claim Senator Gallagher staunchly denied.

Last week also saw Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe accuse then Liberal Senator David Van of sexual assault, while she was under parliamentary privilege.

Senator Van denied the allegation but was barred from the Liberal party room by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton after former senator Amanda Stoker also accused him of inappropriate behaviour. 

Senator Van then quit the party and said he cannot recall the alleged incident described by Ms Stoker.

Mr Shorten was asked how parliament could be more empathetic after a "shambolic" week by audience member Julius Ting

"I'm afraid it was worse than shambolic," Mr Shorten said.

"It was toxic.

"It is not how a lot of parliament is, but it certainly is not how it should be.

"Some of the actions overshadowed what a lot of us are trying to do every day which is make Australia a better place and help Australians."

With many Australians battling with the cost of living, rising inflation and interest rates hikes from the Reserve Bank, the Coalition came under fire for the attack on Senator Gallagher.

But the leader of the National Party in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, said the Coalition were right to examine the claims.

"I think there were serious questions that needed to be asked in the face of a minister misleading the Senate and we asked questions about who knew what, when, what was done with that information," Senator McKenzie said.

Asked by Q+A host Patricia Karvelas if she would change the way the Coalition handled last week, Senator McKenzie said she would not.

"Australians are doing it tough under this government ...  mortgage increases, rents going through the roof, food, inflation at 8 per cent ... it is bleeding everything, but that doesn't absolve us from the responsibility as an Opposition to actually hold the government of the day to account," she said.

Despite that, Mr Shorten said the way the Coalition went about questioning Senator Gallagher made him uncomfortable.

"Bridget made some points about Katy Gallagher. I don't think the Opposition was justified to the extent that it went, and I think it had some some very real effects for a whole lot of other people," he said.

NDIS rorts hurting many Australians

One issue affecting a number of Australians is the NDIS and its funding, and on Q+A several guests expressed their issues with the program, but Mr Shorten did not shy away from them.

He said there had been poor planning decisions made in the past and that he was working on reform.

Disability advocate Sam Connor said the system had repeatedly let disabled people down and cited a young Perth man dying at a train station on Friday as one example.

"There has been more and more red tape put in place and it has become more like the system that we moved away from than the system we were moving to, and people with disability have been let down," Ms Connor said.

Audience member Cheryl Slade also said she was struggling with two children at home who had disabilities and that she and her husband had both recently been diagnosed as having ADHD and autism.

She said the NDIS told them "we were not disabled enough, as we were able to look off our family and our children, that we had a marriage and a job".

Ms Slade wanted to know how that response was fair on those with a disability.

Ms Connor said it was a "massive issue" and the NDIS was not properly supporting those with autism.

"A lot of the issues that we've had around NDIS have been around people looking for reasons to justify people not getting into the scheme and limiting and capping support," she said.

"It has been a massive issue for people with disability, especially in the autistic community."

Mr Shorten then said he would look at Ms Slade's case before blaming alleged mismanagement of the NDIS by the Coalition.

However, that was far from the comment he dropped next when he said he was looking to cut waste in the scheme but also attacked service providers for profiteering of the misfortune of Australians with disabilities.

"There are a lot of great service providers, but let's tell the truth, there are some service providers, when they see someone come along, they ask the family 'do you have an NDIS package or don't you?' And if you have an NDIS package, they charge double," he said.

"We saw it on Gumtree recently where you have got a service provider, providing accommodation support, they're selling the business and they're selling the person.

"It is almost akin to human trafficking."

Asked if there was "$74 billion worth of rorts" in the scheme by Karvelas, Mr Shorten clarified.

"The number you are quoting is over 10 years," he said.

He was then defended by Senator McKenzie.

"I think Bill actually has the toughest job in government," she said.

"This is a critical scheme for all Australians.

"We are all behind a successful and sustainable NDIS for our most vulnerable, and, you know, he has got to make that happen with the budget pressures he has got and it is not going to be easy.

"The Prime Minister is relying on Bill Shorten to get this right."

'Incredible': ABC cuts spark debate

It seemed however no panellist thought ABC management had got things right this week when it came to job cuts.

While the question was about cutting of the arts team, one of the biggest talking points was the axing of the role of political editor Andrew Probyn.

Both Senator McKenzie and Mr Shorten attacked the decision after ABC News Director Justin Stevens had defended the move last week.

"We need to change the way we are servicing the audience," Stevens said.

"Now, the political editor role at the ABC over a number of years was really a role that was dedicated to servicing 7pm.

"What we need to do in our Canberra bureau is to structure it so that it serves audiences across the board."

Senator McKenzie lambasted the cuts.

"I've been on the wrong end of Andrew Probyn's excellent journalism in my political life, but to see the ABC, our public broadcaster not have a political editor in parliament press gallery I find is incredible," she said.

"I find it incredible that the government has given more money to the ABC and yet the ABC is cutting the very core of what makes it a public broadcaster over social media — like to think they are cutting that and we are going to get more TikTok and Instagram and what have you."

Mr Shorten said the ABC's digital transformation would be questioned by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland over the five-year plan.

"I'm vaguely concerned about the news editor in Canberra, Mr Probyn, that this came out of the blue for him, and this is a lesson for all organisations, don't drop change on top of the heads of your employees because they don't deserve of that."