Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak to this request for amendments to the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, received from the Senate. These are historic amendments for this parliament. It is a testament to the importance of being constructive when we can and critical when we must. This is an important moment in this parliament because this is a moment where an arrogant government has been brought to heel.

It is important for the House that we understand how we arrived here today. After months of coordinated pressure and sustained questioning in parliament, the coalition has forced the Albanese Labor government to belatedly release tens of thousands of home-care packages for older Australians who've been left waiting for too long. Labor promised 83,000 new packages from 1 July 2025 but instead decided to withhold that support. They blamed the sector. They blamed the bureaucrats. This out-of-touch government blamed everyone but itself. Because of Labor's delays, not a single new home-care package has been released this financial year. As a result, the priority waitlist has blown out to more than 108,000—a 400 per cent increase in just two years—whilst wait times have tripled. These are not just statistics; these are Australians. Tragically, almost 5,000 older Australians died in the past year while waiting for care.

Thanks to a coordinated pressure campaign from the coalition, led by the shadow health and aged-care minister, Senator Anne Ruston, in the other place, the government has caved. We forced Labor to make a choice in this legislation: listen to the coalition and release these packages early or vote against the coalition and deny vulnerable Australians the support they desperately need. As we can see today, they have listened to the coalition and they have listened to older Australians. The truth is it took the coalition to force this arrogant Labor government to listen to older Australians and to us.

This situation should never have happened. The money was in the budget. The capacity was there. Only Labor stood in the way. It's a black mark on this government that it withheld support from tens of thousands of older Australians who desperately needed it. Neither the Prime Minister, the Minister for Health and Ageing nor the hapless Minister for Aged Care and Seniors has explained to Australians why it took the coalition holding their feet to the fire in the Senate to release this much-needed support. Given their performance this week, I'm not sure we should expect an honest explanation any time soon. But be under no illusion. These amendments represent a defeat for this government. This is not a deal, Prime Minister; this is a defeat. Labor has been forced into a humiliating backdown.

But this is not about political wins or the government's backdowns. It never has been. This is a win for older Australians in desperate need of assistance. Australians who built this country died waiting for the packages they could have and should have accessed but were denied because of Labor's bad decisions.

They're Australians like Clara. Clara is 91 years old. She lives with her husband, who suffers from Parkinson's. Clara has been assessed as needing home-care support to help her stay living independently with her husband, but she has been told that she will not receive her home-care package until July 2026. There's Elliot. Elliot is 86 years old and lives at home with his wife. He was approved for a level 4 home-care package in March this year but was told it will be more than 12 months before he receives his package. In the meantime, both of his daughters are having to provide the care their parents need.

These are the Australians we have fought for, these are the Australians we pushed the government for and these are the Australians who have had a win today.

This is a crisis of the government's own making. We are proud to have forced this government into providing an additional 83,000 packages this financial year, but there is still more work to be done, and the coalition will continue to fight for older Australians with one clear goal: no-one should have to wait for the care they have been assessed as needing.

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