Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Gulino of my electorate is nearly 80 years old. He was approved for a level 2 home care package through My Aged Care more than a year ago, but he is still waiting. He lives alone. He needs help with cooking, shopping, showering and other aspects of personal care. He has reported to my office—we got an interpreter—that he has no family who are capable or willing to assist him on a daily basis. He needs only four hours of help approved. He hopes to maintain his independence for as long as possible. Without help, he is now isolated at home and reports feeling completely neglected. He is one of 108,000 Australians waiting, waiting, waiting. The minister responded but can't tell him how long he'll wait. He has no idea what the uncertainty means for people like Mr Gulino. He says, 'Just keep calling the 1800 number and check how you're going in the queue.'

The home care situation is bad enough. Now we hear stories nationally of nursing home scandals that are horrendous. The government have announced that they are having a royal commission. They have admitted that they have no idea what to do to fix their mess. They've been in government for over five years and they have no clue, so they're going to call a royal commission into themselves and see how that goes—wave our hands in the air again. They can start by apologising for the $1.2 billion cut. The current Prime Minister in his first budget as Treasurer cut $1.2 billion. It's now $2 billion over five years. You don't fix aged care by cutting it. This royal commission must not become the latest excuse to do nothing.