Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Ageing, Senator Santoro. Is the minister aware that the latest information from his department indicates that Queensland has 86 operational aged care beds for every 1,000 people aged 70 years and over? Can the minister confirm that this is over 600 beds below the government’s own target of 88 residential aged care beds for every 1,000 people aged 70 years and over? Aren’t over 600 frail elderly Queenslanders being denied the aged care they need because his government cannot meet its own target on operational aged care beds? Given the minister has been so keen to stand up for the health needs of Queenslanders, why hasn’t he ensured that they actually have the aged care beds they need?

Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Senator McLucas has been informed before today, there is a very real issue relating to phantom beds. The phantom beds that she refers to—

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, these are actual beds.

Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The beds that Senator McLucas talks about, as she would appreciate, are some of those phantom beds that exist because unfortunately state governments, of which the Beattie Labor government is one, oversee town planning regimes which simply do not approve applications by nursing home proprietors with sufficient speed. The beds do not exist for that reason. In the same vein, I congratulate the Tasmanian government on recently participating in the signing of a tripartite agreement with a view to encouraging local government authorities to go about streamlining their planning and approval processes so that what Senator McLucas is seeking to seriously address, I would hope, can be addressed in practical terms at a ground level.

I will be more specific in my reply to Senator McLucas. As she knows, a total of 11,208 aged care places were allocated as a result of the 2005 aged care approvals round. This included 5,274 residential care places, 4,352 community aged care packages, 915 extended aged care at home packages, and 667 extended aged care at home dementia packages. On 1 May 2006, as Senator McLucas would know—or maybe she does not know—I announced that there would be an estimated 26,391 new aged care places made available through the aged care approval rounds over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. This includes 7,678 places available to be allocated in the 2006 aged care approval round comprising 4,585 residential care places, 1,926 CACPs, 500 EACH packages and 667 EACH dementia packages. I can assure Senator McLucas that, out of that total allocation, Queensland will get more than its fair share based on demographics and population. When you consider the demographics that apply in Queensland, it will be receiving what it deserves to get under the formulas.

The Australian government has provided $468 million over four years to increase the aged care provision ratio from the existing level of 100 operational places to 108 operational places for every 1,000 people aged 70 or over, allowing even more older Australians needing care to receive aged care services. I think that is something that Senator McLucas and everybody else on the other side of this chamber should acknowledge. It is a performance that, when Senator McLucas asks me her inevitable follow-up question, I will continue to address.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister confirm that his media adviser has returned from leave where he was assisting in the Queensland election campaign? Given that the minister’s media adviser’s name was on ministerial press releases last week, can we take it that he abandoned Dr Flegg early in the campaign and returned to work in the minister’s office prior to the latest Liberal train crash in Queensland?

Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to continue to answer Senator McLucas’s question. Senator McLucas claimed on 4 May 2006 that the Australian government was fudging the figures, which is what she is trying to say today. A responsible politician like ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, warmly welcomed his share of new places and in fact said that the allocation exceeded his expectation. Clearly, Senator McLucas does not understand the ACAR. She wants to talk about state politics—

George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I raise a point of order, Mr President. The supplementary question from Senator McLucas was quite specific and related to the minister’s media adviser. The minister simply ignored the question and his answer is not relevant to the question.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was not going to rule on the question, because the question did sound quite different from the original question. But, Senator Santoro, do you wish to answer that call? You have 18 seconds to complete your answer.

Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would invite senators opposite to keep on asking me questions throughout this afternoon on aged care matters. I will be more than happy to answer them. This is the first question in about three sitting weeks from Senator McLucas, who clearly has been abandoned by the leadership team in terms of questions to me— (Time expired)