Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I highlight in this chamber how Labor is letting down my region. They are a government for big-city and inner suburbs. Their policies are sometimes good on paper, but the devil is in the detail and in how it affects those who don't wake up to a Sydney or Melbourne skyline, like the people of the small Wimmera town of Dimboola. In Dimboola, there is a community-owned aged-care facility called the Allambi Elderly Peoples Home. Allambi has 12 self-contained units for people who can live independently and 14 beds in a separate facility for those with higher-acuity needs—but not for long. In a prime example of bureaucratic tick and flick, Allambi's higher-care facility is being shut because it does not meet Labor's one-size-fits-all policy.

Generations of the town's residents have been looked after at Allambi since it opened in 1960, following a community meeting. Residents will now need to uproot their lives and find new accommodation. Where is the dignity in that for people who are in the twilight years of their lives? The Prime Minister's catchcry was that no-one would be left behind under his government. I stand here speaking for the residents of Dimboola, for those in Allambi and for those who have family and friends in that centre; they are being left behind. (Time expired)