House debates

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

Matters of Public Importance

Aged Care

4:10 pm

Photo of Angie BellAngie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday, the government announced its actions on the recommendations of the report of the royal commission into aged care. Establishing the royal commission was the Prime Minister's own decision; he wasn't dragged, kicking and screaming to that decision. And he said at the time, soon after the election, that all Australians needed to brace themselves for some of the findings. This was indeed the case. Some difficult stories of our most vulnerable citizens have been told and, indeed, heard by this government. The government's new measures address the three priority areas of home care packages, chemical restraint and younger people in home care. They include investing $496.3 million for an additional 10,000 home care packages—care that they need at home; providing $25.5 million to improve medication management programs to reduce the use of medication as a chemical restraint on aged-care residents and at home; and new restrictions on the use of medication as a chemical restraint—tick; delivering $10 million for additional dementia training and support for aged-care workers and providers, including to reduce the use of chemical restraints; and investing $4.7 million to help meet new targets to remove younger people with disabilities from residential aged care. That's another tick—to those on the other side.

In line with the long-term direction identified by the royal commission, the government will progress further measures, including providing simpler aged-care assessments by creating a single assessment workforce and network, and establishing a single unified system for care of our elderly in the home.

Can I just take a moment to highlight a point for the House by asking a pretty simple question: what did those opposite have planned in the lead-up to the election? What was their plan for the aged-care sector? There was no additional funding in their costings for home care places—zero! There was nothing for aged-care quality, for workforce or residential aged care. There was zero, zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zilch!

Let me remind those opposite and, indeed, those listening out there what the Morrison government has actually implemented to date. Overall, we've invested $2.7 billion since the 2018-19 budget into home care packages. That's a 25 per cent increase in one year. As the Minister for Health just outlined, it's the fastest growth in home care packages. We have established the new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and implemented the new, consumer focused Aged Care Quality Standards. The Charter of Aged Care Rights has been put into place, covering 14 fundamental protections for all aged-care programs, from safe, quality care to independence, information, personal privacy, control, fairness and choice. We have responded to the interim report with a funding package—I will say it again for those opposite with tin ears—of $537 million.

All we see from those opposite is negativity; we don't see any cooperation in this sector. We see our most vulnerable citizens being used to score political points in the press. Those opposite continue to do it today. I've seen it for months at home up in Queensland, in Moncrieff and in Nerang, where the local Labor member for Gaven and Senator Watt continue to use the residents of Earle Haven to lift their profile. This is inappropriate. They are conducting bogus rallies outside my office on a Saturday morning to get press. It's a stunt, a political stunt. They are petrified that they're going to lose the state seat of Gaven in Queensland to the LNP and so they're trying to raise the profile of their local member, because the LNP has a fantastic candidate in Kirsten Jackson, can I say.

Additionally, the government has accepted all 23 recommendations of the Carnell report and is now working hard to improve the sector. It would do those opposite well to admit that their state colleagues in Queensland made the wrong call to move the 71 residents out of Earle Haven. They moved the residents out when they didn't need to. They moved frail and elderly residents out in the state of Queensland when they didn't need to. The Labor member herself was moving people out of Earle Haven unnecessarily and in the middle of the night. I pay tribute to the emergency services, who were so professional, and to the residents, the families and the selfless staff who worked so hard and stayed behind to assist all those elderly residents who were moved out by Queensland state Labor unnecessarily.

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