John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about some welcome news in the aged-care sector in my electorate of Calare. I was pleased to learn last week that a new aged-care residential facility will be built in Orange, located opposite the Orange Base Hospital. This development is the work of Lend Lease, a company which has a history of operating aged-care facilities in Orange, including the Calare Aged Care home in the city. I understand the complex will have 120 beds and will include state-of-the-art dementia facilities. It is a move to be congratulated.

Lend Lease has told local media it believes its residents need their privacy. Thus most rooms will be private, with a few double rooms to cater for couples. I understand the development application is expected to be submitted to Orange City Council next month. This is great news, not only for Orange but for the surrounding region that feeds into health care services in Orange.

It seems that everybody except those opposite are acutely aware of the issues surrounding the provision of healthcare services in the bush. Most people understand there is a shortage of doctors, a shortage of specialist services and a shortage of aged care in rural, regional and remote Australia. But this Labor government seems to be oblivious to this. On most issues facing people living in rural, regional and remote areas, this government has no idea. Just look at Labor's budget and how it attacked rural and regional health-funding programs.

Almost $68 million was wiped from the Health Workforce Fund, the Rural Education Infrastructure Development Pool and the Health Workforce Australia program. Another $75 million was stripped from the Indigenous health infrastructure program to fund other unspecified priorities. And Labor's aged-care package made it clear the government is not prepared to provide funds needed to build a viable aged-care sector into the future. That means all Australians, except full pensioners, can expect to pay thousands of dollars more for their aged care in the years ahead.

Earlier this year, the Rural and Remote Health Journal published a study titled Forced into exile: the traumatising impact of rural aged care service inaccessibility. It reported:

The current shortage of residential aged care places is impacting most heavily on residents in rural rather than urban Australia and is predicted to grow exponentially resulting in an estimated shortfall of 280 000 aged care places in Australia by 2050.

These are figures that, I have to say, those opposite seem to ignore. They ignored regional Australia and they ignored remote Australia in the budget, and their neglect of aged care in these regions is proof of that. I commend Lend Lease for forging ahead with this project. Anything that will address the shortage of aged-care places in the bush and in my electorate is good news, and I look forward to seeing this project come to fruition.