Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, you've incorrectly asserted that there are more than 200,000 people waiting. That's simply not accurate. I understand the basis on which you arrived at that number, and I think it's been put to you previously that that is not an accurate way of assessing the demand in the system. However, the government understands that further resources are required in this sector because we don't want to see people waiting for too long. When we hear the stories—and we have heard many stories—we hear many stories about what people need at home, and they are very moving. All of these stories reinforce the need for reform of the system.

System reform, as people in this chamber I think should understand, required legislation, and it requires an injection of resources, new resources which we intend to deliver. It also requires a reconfiguration of the way that people work—with each other and with the older Australians that they support and care for. All of those things are significant changes to the aged-care system as it currently stands. They require significant thinking, working with the sector and preparation, and that is the work that our government has been doing.

I made this point earlier in the debate. It's work that could have been done in the 10 years that the coalition were in power. But it's work that wasn't done during that time. That task has been left to this government, and that's a very great shame, because there are many people that would have been better off had the reforms that were necessary for the aged-care system been undertaken much, much earlier.

It is heartbreaking, Senator Allman-Payne, to hear of people experiencing distress in any way, and my thoughts are with families who have experienced difficulties, particularly those who have lost a loved one. But that is why we are getting on with this job of delivering the change to the system. We know that older Australians have worked all their lives and that they have cared for their families and their communities, and they deserve the very best. That is what motivates our government, and it's why we did all that we did over the last term and why we intend to do it in this one.