Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Hansard source

The facility at Murchison is actually not open. This government is supporting the administrator to maintain the administration of that facility pending an agreement for another provider to purchase the facility. This government understands that provision of aged care, particularly in regional Australia, is important so that locals can actually access that resource.

Because of COVID and the impacts of COVID on the aged-care sector, and wanting to ensure that a new provider coming in can actually rebuild that business, we have been making payments, as the opposition indicate—I have to say, I think it's a bit unreasonable to average it across the entire period and make that a monthly number, because there was an initial up-front payment to support the facility, through its administration, and so that's quite dishonest of the Labor Party. We are supporting the administrator to maintain that administration, pending the purchase and sale of the facility to another provider, and taking into account the impacts of COVID-19 on the aged-care sector as a part of that process.