Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. Last fortnight it was revealed that just 38 food boxes had been delivered under a program that was intended to provide 36,000 food boxes to older Australians. Who is responsible for this failure, and why did it go so wrong?

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

Can I, at the outset, reject completely the premise of the question from Senator Brown. This government, I think quite wisely, made provision to support senior Australians—when there were issues at the supermarkets, when there were issues with senior Australians being able to get out—to be able to access support that they might require. We put in place a range of measures that supported senior Australians to be able to get the services that they required. In fact, I'm pleased that not so many people needed to have emergency food supplies provided to them.

But I do know that a number of the other measures that we put in place to assist senior Australians, to provide food, to provide meals, were extremely successful. For example, in some areas the number of people receiving Meals on Wheels services increased by 50 per cent. That was another of the elements that we put in place to assist senior Australians that were having problems getting food. We made provision for what we estimated might be required by senior Australians under that particular program. Senior Australians were freely able to apply for the food boxes. It was a demand-driven process. The fact that we did not need to send out those boxes, I think, shows the success of many of the other measures that we put in place, including the extraordinary additional support that's been provided to senior Australians through programs like Meals on Wheels, who have, as I said, in some places had up to a 50 per cent increase in demand and service provision.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brown.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My first supplementary question is: when did the minister first learn that the program would deliver 0.1 per cent of the food boxes promised to older Australians? Does the minister believe that the program has been a success? If not, what lessons has he learned?

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

I don't believe that making provision for something that we think might happen during a pandemic is a failure. In fact, I think the fact that not so many people required that service is a good thing. The fact that the estimate that we made of what the demand might be hasn't been met is a clear demonstration that the number of other services that we put in place to support senior Australians—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Brown, on a point of order?

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance. I've asked a number of questions, and I would ask the minister to respond to the questions that have been asked.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, on the point of order?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister was being directly relevant. Some of the interjections were not being directly relevant. The minister made it very clear that people had the opportunity to apply for what is a demand-driven program.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to rule on the point of order. The minister is being directly relevant if he's talking about the program about which he was specifically asked. It is not appropriate for a point of order to simply ask me to instruct the minister to answer part of a question or instruct him how to answer a question.

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

I think it's a good thing that not that many people have required this form of assistance, but it is also a demonstration that the many other forms of assistance that we've provided to senior Australians have clearly been a success. As I said, in some places there has been up to a 50 per cent increase in the number of meals that have been provided through the Meals on Wheels service, and an extra $50 million was provided— (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brown.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why is this minister incapable of delivering older Australians anything more than empty slogans and unfulfilled promises?

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

I completely and utterly reject the premise of the question. We made provision for a service if people needed it. The fact is that the demand hasn't been what we thought it might have been, and it's a good thing that people have been able to get the food without having to rely on emergency relief packages. I think it's a good thing. It's also, as I've said, a demonstration of the fact that a range of measures that included additional capacity of over $50 million into Meals on Wheels has been a significant success, because Meals on Wheels provides a number of other things than just delivery of a food package. It provides human contact. It provides a capacity to be in touch with the outside world. I am not at all disappointed at the fact that the demand hasn't been what we thought it might have been. I don't regard it as a failure to make a promise. I regard it as a success in providing— (Time expired)