Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, along with many Moreton constituents, will be listening intently to the aged-care royal commission's final report, due to be handed down this Friday. I guarantee that we'll all be listening even more intently to the government's response to the report's recommendations. I'm sure my office is not the only electorate office in Australia that receives calls on a daily basis from senior Australians who are distressed and frustrated as they find they can't access the aged-care services they're eligible for.

We know that the government hasn't adequately funded services. Many seniors in my electorate are told by service providers to call back at the start of the new financial year, as the providers may receive extra funds then. That doesn't work for someone like Margaret, who lives in Acacia Ridge and is in her 90s. Not one of the 10 aged-care providers in Moreton could mow Margaret's lawn. As she couldn't afford a private mowing service, Margaret, in her 90s, got down on her hands and knees and started to trim the grass herself. Seniors like Margaret are very frustrated. They are relieved when they are deemed eligible for a much-needed funded service—things that keep them in their home et cetera—but then they're bewildered when they find there is no actual service. This is the cruel mirage of Morrison's version of aged care. Margaret, like me, just wants aged care to be properly funded. She notes that the royal commission's interim report was called Neglect. Let's see the Morris government lift its game.