Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie. She's an extraordinary representative for her community and she stands up for older people every single day. Last night the Treasurer delivered a budget that is responsible, that is ambitious and that is squarely focused on building Australia's future. It's a budget that backs workers and strengthens Medicare. It builds the homes, the workforce and the skills that this country needs for the decades ahead. For older Australians in need of care, it builds more aged-care beds and improves home care so that more older Australians can access the high-quality aged care they deserve.

We cannot build the Australia of tomorrow without delivering on our promise to the people who built the Australia of today. That's why at the centre of our aged care agenda in this budget there is a significant boost to residential aged care. Labor has already invested more than a billion dollars through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program since 2022, and we're not stopping there. In response to the accommodation pricing review, we're building on our record investments to deliver more beds in the places that need them most, built in partnership with a sector that we're determined to keep strong and sustainable in the interests of every older Australian. These are 5,000 real beds every year for the parents and grandparents that raised each of us. It'll mean real jobs in care and in construction. It'll mean older Australians getting the care they need closer to home sooner. It'll have a particular focus on ensuring those who need financial support to get into appropriate aged care are never left behind.

This is a budget that lives Labor's values. First Nations elders who have received Stolen Generations redress payments will no longer have those payments counted against them in residential aged care means assessments. That's the right thing to do. This budget will continue our work to make sure that more Australians can age at home with dignity, purpose and quality care. No older Australian with a place in the Support at Home program will be out of pocket for help with showering, dressing or continence care. We'll extend care for older Australians in the final weeks of their lives, giving them continuity and certainty so they can focus on precious moments with their loved ones.

This is what a responsible, ambitious budget looks like. It builds on our generational reforms and record-breaking investments in aged care. It shows we've listened to older Australians, to their families, to workers and to providers. And it delivers on our promise to build a fairer and more compassionate aged-care system that every Australian can trust. It is one more step in this Labor government's careful, considered work of building an aged-care system worthy of the Australians who rely on it every single day.

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