Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Assistant Minister for Children and Families) Share this | Hansard source

I thank those opposite for raising this matter of public importance today on aged care, because it is quite clear that the past five years have been anything but a failure. In fact, the past five years have been a progressive march towards a better future for our elderly, whether at home or in care. We have a royal commission, but we will continue to work to help these people.

The other side doesn't like to admit this, but the Prime Minister's announcement to launch a royal commission into the aged-care sector is something they wished they'd come up with first. Now they have proved that they will make anything up in order to discredit what is a sensible and pragmatic approach to an industry that operates to care for our most vulnerable. We are abundantly aware of the fact that the vast majority of aged-care centres and the vast majority of those who work in the sector do a sterling job. Their work is tireless, and we quite honestly salute them for it. There is a problem in the industry, though, and for the sake of those who do a great job we must act against those who do not.

The playbook from the union-bred, union-fed and union-led opposition is now totally predictable. When faced with a national problem, they don't find out the cause, because they arrogantly think they already know the cause. Instead, they perform a campaign based on their preconceived ideas of how this problem can fit the union agenda. Step 1 of this campaign is to pretend all problems are because the government cut funding. Don't worry about whether we actually did or not. We have this week, of course, seen those opposite implement trusty step number 1, with members opposite lining up to take pot shots at alleged defunding of the aged-care sector. Their claims, as predictable as they were, have all been found out to be fake news. Just this morning, a fact check by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Eryk Bagshaw highlighted:

The Coalition has increased funding to aged care in dollar terms, as a proportion of all government expenses and as a fraction of the economy …

This leaves very little wriggle room for the bleats from those opposite about funding cuts. The truth is the coalition continues to grow aged-care funding, just as we do for our schools and our hospitals, something only possible while the economy is also growing.

Funding is only a small aspect of what is going on for a policy area, and I am confident that we are addressing in a methodical manner the issues that have our elderly at risk in our places of care. Immediately after the Oakden disaster was uncovered, we commissioned the Review of National Aged Care Quality Regulatory Processes. We took the review seriously and have actioned all 10 recommendations, especially the delivery of a new tough cop on the beat: the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. For the first time in 20 years we have legislated for new aged-care quality standards.

We are doing these things and so much more, while those opposite can only jeer and propose tax increases for our elderly. By attacking imputation credits, the opposition place themselves squarely in the pockets of many of our fellow Australians who simply don't have extra money to give. This is a policy that has been proven to affect those on a low income far more than those on a high income. I for one stand with our self-funded retirees in defending their hard-earned money. I, like many, have been rather intrigued to see those opposite this week throwing the usual lies and misinformation around following the Prime Minister's announcement. One expects, in the hurly-burly of politics, one side to disagree with the other, but I think the Australian people hold a higher standard than to be lied to.

The truth is we take the health and welfare of our older Australians absolutely seriously. Just recently, I was proud to be able to deliver $1.2 million to Mercy Health and Aged Care in Rockhampton to help them expand their Bethany aged-care facility to encompass a new community centre. This project is all about making it easier for elderly residents in Bethany to interact with younger generations in a shared space housing extra services. This makes a lot of sense to anyone whose loved ones have ended up in a home and felt cut off from the outside world.. Re-establishing this connection will promise to make life more enjoyable and help keep older minds sharp. This is a great measure, and so are the myriad of other measures Minister Wyatt and the government are implementing, despite protests from across the aisle. Once again we see an issue we as the federal government wish to properly address, and the naysayer attitude of those opposite comes to the fore. Labor's spinning every false yarn under the sun to justify claims we are not doing our job. It's not going to work, because the Australian people are sick and tired of that. (Time expired)

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