Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It most certainly is true, Senator Polley. You were waxing lyrical about the concerns you had about the Howard government with respect to aged care and I will comment on that very shortly. But I want to make something clear with respect to the waste and mismanagement. We had it exposed this week that $7 million was spent on signs to promote the Labor Party, to grab a Labor vote at the next federal election and to honour the Hon. Julia Gillard.

Then, of course, we had the Grocery Choice debacle, when $13 million of wasted taxpayers’ money was borrowed and expended by the Rudd Labor government to establish this website. And then they closed it down. We are going to find out exactly how much waste has been expended by this Rudd Labor government.

We know that the aged-care industry at the moment is underfunded. We know that it is overregulated. We know that there are increasing demands for services. I want to address some of the points that Senator Polley expressed in the Senate, and respond to them. She said that the Howard government did nothing, so let’s address some of those points and then I will get to some of the specific concerns that I want to highlight here in the Senate.

The Howard coalition government was the first federal government to recognise the need for a dedicated minister for ageing. Surely we can take a bow for that one. In terms of operational aged-care places, there was a 48 per cent increase, from 141,292 places in June 1996, when Labor left office and Howard-Costello moved in, to 208,698 places in December 2006. The coalition invested $5.7 billion in the construction and upgrade of aged-care homes from 1998. There was a huge increase in the number of community care packages, which allow older Australians to remain in their own homes with the support and care they need. We provided enormous support for dementia services across Australia; we made it a national health priority. We established the National Respite for Carers Program. The coalition commissioned the first ever census of the residential aged-care workforce. In terms of attacks on the coalition, that is a short response.

Let me say a few other things in terms of Senator Polley’s comments. I have a letter to the editor from the Launceston Examiner newspaper dated 9 September 2009—which happens to be yesterday—by Dick James, President of the Association of Independent Retirees, Tasmania division. He says:

AGED care in Tasmania is in crisis

Is Senator Polley listening? Are the Labor senators in Tasmania listening? He continues:

Two aged-care homes have closed in the past 12 months because they are no longer financially viable.

Several others are operating with deficit budgets.

An immediate and substantial injection of federal money is desperately required.

Tasmanian aged homes’ staff have appealed to the federal Ageing Minister Justine Elliot but without success to this time.

It is pleasing to note the address delivered by Tasmanian Labor Senator Helen Polley in the Senate on June 23.

Here we are; she is being quoted:

Senator Polley described the immense difficulties facing Tasmanian aged-care providers, and being a member of the Federal Government encouraged all to believe relief from this parlous situation would eventuate.

All Tasmanian members of the Federal Parliament are urged to speak up on this issue.

That is what the coalition is doing this afternoon in supporting this motion and putting it to the Senate and the Australian people that aged-care is in crisis. It is in a parlous situation, Dick James—you are right. Well done on putting your views in the local newspaper the Examiner.

We have had countless articles on aged-care in Tasmania in recent times. Here is one from the Hobart Mercury from Thursday 6 August:

Aged-care crisis alarm for nation

               …            …            …

TASMANIA’S crisis in aged care is a dire warning about the future of the sector Australia-wide, industry leaders said yesterday.

Peak aged-care organisations met in Hobart yesterday to launch a plan to lobby for reform.

Why would they be doing this if they were not in crisis, if they were not in need? Guess what—they are lobbying for reform. The Rudd Labor government should get off their high horse and actually listen to their concerns. That is what I was doing last week—I was listening. I met with the president of Aged and Community Services Tasmania. The article goes on:

“Aged-care services in Tasmania are disappearing under an intolerable regulatory burden and inadequate funding,” Aged and Community Services Tasmania chief executive Darren Mathewson said.

That is what the chief executive officer for the organisation in Tassie said. It goes on:

“In the past 12 months alone we have seen two aged-care providers close their facilities and the withdrawal of a secure dementia unit on the North-West Coast.”

The National body’s chief executive Greg Mundy said Tasmania’s woes were indicative of those in all regional areas.

There you go. Please listen. Here is a headline from the Hobart Mercury on 4 June 2009: ‘Expert fears for dementia care’. Here is another one from the Mercury on Wednesday 18 March, many months ago: ‘Campaign to improve aged care’. That article quotes Australian Nursing Federation Tasmanian Branch Secretary Neroli Ellis. We know in the aged-care sector there is a wage shortfall of about 20 per cent compared to the acute care sector. Neroli Ellis, who I know, does a great job for the nursing community in Tasmania. There is another headline, from 21 January: ‘Aged-care crisis spurs call for aid’. You can see the writing on the wall. I just wonder if Labor are listening. Have they been out there talking to the aged-care community?

Let’s look at the facts in terms of residential aged-care bed licences, because they are a key indicator. If bed licences are being allocated and taken up, we know that the sector is viable, that it is a goer, that the industry can grow and meet the needs of an ageing population. Minister Elliot, the Minister for Ageing, has allocated 1,852 residential aged-care bed licences less than what was promised in October 2008—a 25 per cent shortfall in residential aged-care bed licences, right from the start.

What is happening in Tasmania? Of 131 new residential aged-care places made available to Tasmania in the 2008-09 ACAR round, only 89 were taken up—a shortfall of 42. That is not a good sign. That is a very significant indicator. Hello, Tasmanian Labor members of parliament. Please listen. That is on the back of what happened in 2007, when 63 residential aged-care places were applied for and allocated out of 167. That is not a good number. That is a shortfall of 104. Hello, Labor Party members in Tasmania. Please stand up for the viability of aged-care services in Tasmania.

In the last 12 months or so we have had 35 residential aged-care licences handed back. Not only are they not applying; they are actually handing them back. Things are getting worse. Can’t the government face up to the fact that aged-care is in crisis? Please listen. Across the country, 786 have been handed back over the last 12 months or so. This is pretty serious stuff, and I wonder if they are listening; I really do. The writing is on the wall; surely they see it.

What about community care applications that have been submitted? We have talked about residential aged-care places; let’s talk about community care, where we provide support to people in their own homes and communities. In 2008-09—let us have a look at the figures which I have in front of me—in Northern Tasmania there are 14 applications. In 2007-08 there were 11 applications. How many were successful in Northern Tasmania? Two! How many were unsuccessful? Eighty-two per cent were unsuccessful. In North-Western Tasmania seven applied in the first year and six applied in 2007-08, and only three were successful. That is a 50 per cent failure rate. Likewise, in Southern Tasmania, there were 19 applications in 2008-09, and 23 applications in 2007-08. How many of those were successful? Five! That is not a good record. It is a 78 per cent failure rate. Come on, Labor Party members in Tasmania, please wake up!

Why would one of the local aged-care providers, Presbyterian Homes for the Aged, approach me to present a petition in the federal parliament? I wonder why! They are concerned about the viability of their home and the viability for aged-care services across Tasmania. They approached me earlier in the year and they said, ‘Please, we have had meetings, we have talked to the local federal member of parliament, but we have not had much success there.’ So they wanted me, the local Liberal senator to present a petition to the parliament, and of course I did. I wrote a letter and expressed some of the concerns following the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee inquiry into residential and community aged care in Australia, which was handed down on 29 April this year. We will come to the reports and the inaction of government in responding to these concerns. In that letter I said:

Overwhelmingly, those who participated in the Inquiry highlighted the enormous pressures their organisations are under with a large number of providers operating at losses. It is apparent that these losses are becoming increasingly unsustainable and providers are closing their facilities, leaving beds empty and handing back licences.

The evidence is on the table. This is happening. This is factual.

At a time when Australians require more and more aged care services, providers are cutting back on services because of the non viability of the sector.

Doesn’t the Rudd government get it? The Rudd government is in denial about this nonviability. It is not listening. It is certainly not offering solutions, and this a lack of policy direction and forward planning will harm for the future care of older Australians. It is a big concern, not just in Tasmania but across the country. Many people are very worried about it.

What about these reports? There has been report after report, and what has the government done? Let me put this to you. I have the Senate report right here in front of me. There are 31 recommendations in this—this was handed down in April 2009—but not a squeak, not a scintilla, of concern or response from this government. This is a big concern and there needs to be a wake-up call, for and on behalf of the Rudd Labor government, to say action is required.

What else has happened? We have had the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report in June 2009. We have had Trends in aged care services: some implications from the Productivity Commission. We have had the Annual review of the regulatory burden: social and economic infrastructure services Productivity Commission interim report, and it goes on. There is a lack of action. Guess what is happening all the time? The aged-care industry is going south; their viability is becoming more suspect every day, particularly in Tasmania. As Senator Adams indicated, it is also particularly so in Western Australia. That is why we are supporting Senator Cormann’s motion this afternoon. It is very well written and well prepared, and the evidence backs it in every way, shape or form.

We do know that the Rudd government cut funding to aged care in the 2009-10 budget. That was a shameful demonstration of their lack of support for aged-care services. I know that Greg Mundy at Aged and Community Services Australia would be very concerned about that. I also know that the aged-care industry across Australia is likewise concerned. The indexation of the conditional adjustment payment subsidy, CAPS, has been cut. The CAPS remains at 8.75 per cent until 2011-12. This is a death by a thousand cuts. This is what the Rudd Labor government is doing to aged care in Australia. There was $25.8 million lost over four years from discontinuation of the assistive technology and community care program.

Let us be thankful for one thing. We can be thankful for Margaret May MP, our shadow minister for ageing, who has been doing a sterling job. She was in Tasmania earlier this year—