Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Well, we would like to see a focus on aged care, because that includes aged care in Indigenous communities. We have Senator Price here, who understands the importance of proper legislation around Indigenous communities—not virtue signalling, not the paternalistic Greens looking at Senator Price last night like she didn't know what she was talking about. They couldn't even bring themselves to stand up. Senator Price understands that Indigenous aged-care facilities would not be included in some of these regulations because of all the different little exemptions that are required. Those opposite seem to think that they know what's best, because they'll tell them what's best. They'll tell them what they need to be doing and how they need to perform. They don't take advice from those on the ground, whether it's with aged-care reform, where they're just taking our legislation, or whether it's turning around and removing the cashless debit card, where we're going to see humbugging, domestic violence, access to alcohol—all of these things—come back, because they don't know how to govern. They don't know how to make decisions for the benefit of Australians. What they know is how to virtue signal. What they know is how to completely drag down everyday Australians, to upset the family budget, to make it harder for families to get into aged care and to make it harder for families to navigate the system. That's all those opposite want to do.

But why are we surprised? We can look at some of the things which they could have done to continue to support the aged-care sector but have chosen not to. Those opposite, now in government—who purport, and who have always purported, that they are the bastions of care and that they are the bastions of supporting people and looking after people—at the first available opportunity ceased access to the rapid antigen tests for aged-care homes. So, whilst on this side of the chamber they were happy to squawk about the requirements for rapid antigen tests—hilariously, at a time when the Premier of WA had actually made them illegal, but never let the facts get in the way of a good screech across the chamber, as Senator Watt knows only too well—at the first opportunity they removed access to free rapid antigen tests for aged-care homes as outbreaks were occurring.

Now there's another thing that they did as soon as they could get in. We know those opposite, now in government, actually really don't—and they never have—support our defence forces or the work that they do; at every opportunity they look to cut defence spending. The Defence Force has actually provided critical support to those in the aged-care sector throughout the COVID pandemic. But of course those opposite get into government and the first thing they do is remove that support—get rid of the Australian Defence Force assisting in aged care.

Where we are is the situation where they don't know how to write legislation, so they've just pretty much picked up what we put forward before. They've gone out to their union mates and asked them, 'How can we help you?' It wasn't, 'How can we help older Australians?' or 'How can we help families?' It was, 'Hey, union mates, how can we help you?' So the first thing they do is to remove the schedule that requires worker screening. To every Australian out there whose parents are subjected to workers who are not up to speed, who don't have good intent and who don't have the ability to look after your elderly parents, you only need to look to those now sitting on the government benches—over there on the treasury bench. It was never about you and your family, it was never about you and your parents; it was always, and always will be, about their union mates.