Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question without notice is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House what the government has done to improve facilities for older Australians moving from hospital to other forms of care? Is the minister aware of claims of cost shifting and what is the government’s response?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar for her question. As I have often heard the member for Mackellar say, people who help build our country in their prime deserve to be looked after in their declining years.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Gillard interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Manager of Opposition Business is warned!

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Howard government has massively increased spending on aged care facilities, from just $3 billion in 1996 to almost $8 billion in the current year. Since 1996 there are some 31,000 more residential aged care places, and since 1996 there are some 32,000 more community aged care places. That is a 40 per cent plus increase, and there will be a further 26,000 additional places over the next three years.

The government is working with the states to avoid having nursing home patients filling public hospital beds. The Transition Care Program will help 13,000 older people a year to leave hospitals for more appropriate care, and the Pathways Home Program gives the states $254 million for rehabilitation and step-down services. In hailing some of these new programs, the Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, said after COAG:

... we’ve made significant progress on tackling some of the blockages in our health system. The Prime Minister’s mentioned the elderly awaiting placement in nursing home ... These are significant agreements that will ... provide for sustained improvement in the quality of services in our hospitals ...

That is what Premier Iemma said. But the member for Lalor must have been out for lunch when these announcements were being made, because she is now claiming some deficiencies as an excuse to revive, yet again, our old friend Medicare Gold, the policy she will not let die. It is the Labor policy that won an election—for the coalition! The Leader of the Opposition keeps killing it, and the member for Lalor keeps reviving it. It is a bit like the three mines policy: the Leader of the Opposition keeps killing it, and the member for Grayndler keeps reviving it. But he is a very strong leader! Let me say this to the member for Lalor: 1,000 complaints do not constitute a policy, and 100 opinions do not constitute a principle. On the evidence so far, at least in health, Labor has no policies, no principles and absolutely no hope of winning an election.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left are holding up their own question.