Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Unfortunately, there is nothing in what the Minister for Ageing has put on the record today that she has not said on previous occasions. In fact, the content of the ministerial statement today condemns the minister. There appears to be a belief in her office that generating a flurry of media releases and ministerial statements that say nothing new will fix the aged-care system. It is a dangerous approach because the aged-care system is at crisis point.

Today the minister has talked about unannounced visits to aged-care facilities, but let us set the record straight. Unannounced visits were initiated under the Howard government, along with a number of other initiatives, such as accreditation and certification, to ensure that Australia had a world-class aged-care system. That system is being eroded because of the performance of the Rudd government and the minister. The minister continuously attacks the industry at every opportunity and overlooks the fact that it is her approach, her penchant for announcing reviews and her inaction, that is doing serious damage to older Australians.

I remind the minister that people in the aged-care industry, the dedicated workers and care providers, have the welfare of residents as a priority; otherwise, they would not be in the business. A large percentage of providers are charities whose vision is to provide a strong, sustainable aged and community care industry providing people with high-quality, accessible services that meet their needs. Yet the minister undermines them and aged care workers at every opportunity.

This ministerial statement is a typical example of the Rudd government. It is an empty ministerial statement. It contains nothing new. As mentioned previously, unannounced visits were initiated by the Howard government. In March of this year the minister said she was going to increase the number of visits from 4,000 to 7,000 visits. But that is where the minister is misleading. The 7,000 visits are a combination of announced and unannounced visits, so it is not an increase of 3,000 unannounced visits. When the department was asked in Senate estimates whether more staff would be employed to undertake the increased visits, the reply that came back was that no extra staff would be put on to undertake the increased number of visits. I ask the minister to explain how the number of visits can almost double and yet the staff members stay the same. Is this part of the new productivity push or a push to burn workers out? It just does not add up.

I believe the media releases that the minister puts out are an attempt to disguise numerous failings and are a reflection of the chaotic way the Rudd government is running the country. The sooner it sinks in that our ageing population is the biggest social challenge that Australia and the world faces, the better. The sooner people grasp the enormity of the challenges we face, the better, because I think people will live their own lives in a more sustainable way.

The Governor-General said at his farewell dinner last night that his vision for Australia is for a caring Australia—first and foremost taking care of one’s health and wellbeing and caring for others. We all need to take better care of ourselves because, with demographic change, increased life expectancy, declining fertility rates and such things as costly technological advances and a reduced workforce, living standards will fall quite dramatically and Australians are not prepared for that. The aged-care system is unravelling, and this slow disintegration will gain momentum as pressure on the system increases. We are hearing more and more about long waiting lists, difficulties in facilities finding staff, underfunding and undersubscription of places.

The minister says the Rudd government is committed to tackling the challenges of the 21st century and goes on about 12 years of Howard government neglect. I have got news for the minister: constantly repeating something does not make it true. The Howard government did not neglect aged care; we gave priority to the care of older Australians. It does not seem to have registered that it is now up to the Rudd government to meet the challenges of our ageing population. Excuse after excuse, press release after press release, while the system is falling down, does not cut it and will not address the issues facing the aged-care sector in the 21st century.

Aged care is at a crisis point. I use those extreme words with caution, but it is at crisis point. Over 40 per cent of our providers are operating in the red. For the first time beds have been undersubscribed in Tasmania and Western Australia. Beds are being closed down, and decisions are being made at a board level not to make application for beds. Waiting lists are getting longer, more and more compliance is being heaped on providers, and the system is buckling under the strain. How can older Australians receive the care they deserve if facilities are understaffed and underfunded? It is about time the Rudd government woke up to the seriousness of the situation and started governing in the best interests of all Australians, including older Australians, not just working families—whatever that means. Going by what comes out of the minister’s office, I suspect her office reflects the dysfunction of the Prime Minister’s office, and this dysfunction is affecting the welfare of older Australians.

We are already in August, and the 2008 aged-care assessment round has not even commenced. The process is usually well under way by now. But the minister has dragged her feet, leaving thousands of Australians waiting for beds either in their home or in a hospital. One night in a hospital bed costs $1,117, compared to $100 in an aged-care facility.

In closing, the welfare of older Australians is paramount. I applaud any initiative that protects older Australians. I detest, though, empty statements that have no relevance and do nothing to meet the challenges of our ageing population. There are no two ways about it; the ageing of our population is the biggest social challenge that Australia has ahead of it. We must address those challenges; otherwise the wellbeing of older Australians is at serious risk.

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