Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. In the Senate, the coalition just dragged Labor kicking and screaming into delivering all 83,000 home-care package places that were promised, including 40,000 this year. Labor didn't want this, but the coalition made it happen. Is the minister aware that the Prime Minister took a deliberate decision to exclude him from all negotiations today between Labor and the coalition on these matters. If the Prime Minister doesn't want the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors in the room when the big calls are being made, why should any elderly Australian?

Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government is proud to be delivering our once-in-a-generation reforms to the aged care sector, which will see more Australians get better care faster than ever before. The House has heard remarkably considerable debate on this topic this week, and Minister Butler and I announced a short time ago that the government has reached an agreement to pass the aged care bill currently before the Senate. This is a fantastic outcome for older Australians and their families, who have the certainty that more care is on the way. It's a fantastic outcome for the aged-care providers, who will deliver more care than ever before. And it's a fantastic outcome for the workers, who work day in and day out looking after the people we love.

The bill before the Senate is the final piece of the puzzle that paves the way for the commencement of the new Aged Care Act and our new Support at Home program. Throughout this reform process we've taken a principled approach to the bipartisan nature of these reforms to ensure that they are enduring and meaningful for generations to come. We're grateful to the opposition, particularly Senator Ruston, for their genuine engagement and commitment to working with us and to getting these reforms right. The new Support at Home program will help even more older Australians to stay at home for longer and with a higher level of care, so people can stay close to family and close to community. To keep up with increased demand, we'll now fast track the release of more home care packages in the lead-up to 1 November. We'll bring forward an extra 20,000 packages in the next eight weeks before the new act comes into effect. Once the new Support at Home program comes into place, we will allocate the remaining 63,000 packages to older Australians in the first eight months by 30 June 2026.

This is a responsible decision that will deliver more care faster to the older Australians who need it most, while maintaining the prudent fiscal save that was a key pillar of our reforms last year. Every single older Australian deserves the very best care, and that's what our reforms have always sought to do. This is an important outcome for so many older Australians, their families and the sector, and I thank the parliament for working with the government to ensure that we get it right.