Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Normally in this chamber there is an absolute confluence between what I think and what I say, and I would just say on this occasion I'm going to reserve judgement on the member for Wills and politely caution him that Victorian Labor MPs coming into this chamber, virtually or otherwise, and lecturing this parliament about the measures that have been taken on COVID-19 should do so with extreme caution, because the reality is that this government has worked consistently to support the aged-care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have done everything we can to support people and to make sure that aged-care providers are as well equipped as possible to support those people who are vulnerable and in need.

It's not a surprise to anybody in this chamber, and I'm sure many of the speakers who follow me will repeat similar points, that when you have community transmission as we have had extensively in the great state of Victoria—and we can argue about why, and there's a judicial inquiry where misleading evidence has been provided by a number of people, including ministers and the chief health officer—it leads to a spread with a latency of the virus, which, tragically, leads to the infection of many people who needn't have been infected. Of course, the virus was latent in particular amongst those who are vulnerable in aged care. We all know people in aged care—my grandmother is in aged care, as I'm sure are the parents or grandparents of many other members—and we have all felt that vulnerability.

Since March we have had a plan, working with the aged-care sector, to build up their resilience and their capacity. There have been spreads of COVID-19 in aged-care providers in the Goldstein electorate. Like members on the other side of this chamber, I'm sure, I've called those aged-care providers, reached out a hand of support and said, 'Is there anything I can do to connect you to the department, to support, to getting access to the PPE that's desperately needed, to the minister?' Both the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians and the Minister for Health have been explicit in their preparedness to support and assist, answer any question and respond as necessary, and they have done so.

Can I tell you what I have heard—and I say this with sadness, not with any sense of political glee. The feedback I have got from aged-care providers in the Goldstein constituency is that their problem is not with the federal Department of Health, it has been with the state Department of Health Human Services. I say that with absolute sadness. It's incredibly frustrating. They have been frustrated because they have found a lack of access to PPE as a consequence of the decisions made by the state government. That has not only put at risk the lives of those who are clients of aged-care services; it has put at risk those nurses and carers who work in that sector. That's why we have done so much to support them and to fill that gap.

Comments have been made by the member for Franklin and the member for Wills suggesting that this government has been negligent in its support for aged care over a long period of time. I'm sorry, but that is just misleading this parliament. The minister has just gone through, step by step, the funding that is available to the aged care sector, a sector that works hard to support those people in need. It actually belittles and demeans the members opposite to belittle and demean the sector of people who, literally every day, give the most support they can to assist people who are at a vulnerable stage of life. Year after year we've had record increases in funding. In fact, from 2012-13 to next financial year, there is an increase of 103.2 per cent in total funding. It's irresponsible to come into this place and argue these cheap political talking points that come from the opposition.

And I say that particularly in the context of Victoria. All of us have different opinions about how we can manage this crisis. Yes, sometimes people think some people have done things wrong—and I certainly have very strong views, particularly in the context of the Victorian government. But our focus should be on what we can do to assist, and that is where the Morrison government's focus has been.

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