Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Menzies for his contribution with respect to National Palliative Care Week. Right now many Tasmanians are not able to choose where and how they are cared for before they die. Up to 70 per cent of people want to spend the end of their life at home, but only 14 per cent get the chance to do so. Too many Australians die in hospitals, and around a third die in nursing homes in aged care.

Labor wants improved palliative care. The challenge is for Tasmanians to be as comfortable as possible at the end of their life. Last year Labor committed $35 million over four years for end-of-life care, including $2.3 million to Palliative Care Tasmania and $21.7 million for new palliative care at home packages, including in Tasmania. Labor recognises that aged care must focus on quality of life, including maximising the opportunity for people to remain at home and to be supported in their care at home. People are entering aged care with more than one chronic illness, meaning that the challenge in delivering aged care is a challenge in delivering palliative care. Labor listens to the communities it serves. Labor will make the right budget choices in funding health and aging, including palliative care—not giving away $65 million in unfunded, expensive tax cuts. It is really important that we listen to the people in our community. It is really important that we address the desire for people to be heard in relation to their care requirements. Being in hospital when you are dying is not necessarily the right choice.