Jenny McAllister’s put a number on NDIS fraud: at least $577 million.

Yesterday, the NDIS Minister told Channel 7’s Sunrise program the NDIA estimates fraud at about 8 percent of the NDIS total. That’s costed at the absolute minimum of $42 billion for the full program this year.

That money could buy 20 percent of central Sydney’s Westfield Shopping Mall; a year’s worth of maintenance for the Hunter Class frigates; or the project management app Trello.

Not massively huge - but big nonetheless. In political terms, it’s the sort of money that can deliver a big announcement (a gas-fired power station, redevelopment of a hospital, or 45 million tonnes of carbon reduction). So what’s the Minister doing about it?

“We've now got around 500 people working on these issues within the NDIA,” McAllister said. “When we came to government, there were just 30. It wasn't good enough and it left the Scheme as a soft target.”

But time’s at a premium on breakfast TV and the Minister had to speak quickly to get her message out.

“There is nothing lower than seeking to take money from a disabled person. And if you seek to drain the plans of people with disability, we are coming for you.”

And that’s it. Straight to the wind-up from host Matt Shirvington: “Thank you so much for coming in. Appreciate it. Anyone with information about suspected NDIS fraud should contact the Fraud Reporting and Scam Helpline.”

So what was that about? Building legitimacy for the coming cuts. However simplistic it might seem, this focus on fraud neatly positions the government as defender of the scheme. Opponents of the cut are linked to the fraudsters.

McAllister’s a very smart politician.