Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

More than 200,000 older Australians are waiting for access to these packages, and I don't find it funny. My elderly mother is one of them. She's 91 years old. In November 2023, we made the request for a review of her package. We followed up in March 2024. We were told it would be a six- to nine-month wait. She was approved on 10 December 2024 for an upgrade from a level 1 to a level 4 because she had gone from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4. Guess what? We're still waiting. I actually rang them this morning, just to find out where she was up to. The waiting time is no longer six to nine months. It is now nine to 12 months. She's not alone. She's one of 200,000 elderly Australians that are waiting for this government to do something.

They dare to stand in this chamber and tell us that they're releasing packages every single week when we know that they have not released one single new package since 1 July. They should be deeply ashamed of that. These are people who have worked hard their whole lives. These are people who have raised families. These are people who have contributed to our society. And, now, when they are at a vulnerable time in their lives and they need our assistance and support, we are letting them down. Not only are they being let down; the reality of what they are living through is being obfuscated about by this government, pretending that it's not real. Well, it is absolutely real for every single one of those 200,000 people.

Whilst I wasn't at the inquiry on Friday, I have heard those stories as well. Imagine being offered a place when your beloved husband, wife, mum, dad or other family member has just passed away or when it's far too late? That's not right. We should be ashamed of that. Every single one of us in this place is responsible and accountable for that, but the government has the carriage of it.

As has been noted many times, the aged care bill was something that we worked with the government on. It was bipartisan and we should all be proud of that because we're trying to get the outcome. But we've can't hide from the fact that we are not delivering the packages. This government is not delivering the packages that Australians need. This is an aged-care crisis entirely created by the actions of this government. The Prime Minister promised security, dignity, quality and humanity being placed back into aged care. None of that has happened. People have had to wait longer and longer. That is an absolute shame. The Prime Minister has failed older Australians who need support so they can live with dignity in their own homes. (Time expired)