Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

So the minister would be aware that the guidelines were withdrawn two years ago. It has been a very slow process to get a new committee established. We know that the government believes that that committee can do this work, but it is obviously a slow process. Can the minister tell me how that process is going, any expected time, and if any other variations to the process have been made, given the controversy over the conflict of interest of, I think, the chair of that committee? Perhaps the minister might also consider whether he is prepared to advise us of the members of that committee, which to date have not been made publicly available. Those are the questions in relation to the PBS.

Minister, I am also wondering whether you can answer some questions in relation to the Ageing portfolio. You would be aware that my colleague in the other place has been asking questions as well. You were reported in, I think, Monday’s West Australian as being assured by the industry in Western Australia that there was a glut of aged-care places. But you would no doubt be aware that your own department assesses that they are something in the order of 500 beds short in Western Australia. Minister, I am wondering whether you can give us an update on the department’s and the government’s assessment of the bed shortages in each state. We estimate that they are of a high order. Whenever we have asked these questions in the past, the government has always talked about aged-care places as a whole. We of course acknowledge the care that is provided through community care packages. But, as the Minister for Ageing would be well aware, they cover entirely different types of needs and people with different care needs. If the minister could provide us with an update—particularly in relation to Western Australia, since he is in the paper asserting that there is a glut—that would be useful. We would also appreciate an update, Minister, if you have one, on the status of aged-care beds around the country. State by state would be preferable. I have some further questions, but I am going to allow my colleagues to ask a couple. The minister, unfortunately, has not seen fit to answer any of the questions along the way, but we are hoping he might.

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