Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor went to the last election promising to put the care back into aged care. Instead, we're seeing the exact opposite, with the government turning a blind eye as providers struggle to keep their doors open under the new stringent regulations brought in by this government. It's devastating to hear that another 16 aged-care homes have closed since June this year, and that's on top of the 23 closures that we saw from September last year. So the residents of 39 aged-care homes in Australia have been pushed out of their homes in 12 months as a result of the policies of the Albanese Labor government. The department has as much as admitted to this, listing financial viability as the reason for these closures. We know that the decision by this government to bring forward the requirement for 24/7 nurses and other expedited staffing requirements is causing real financial strain on the aged-care sector.

For more than 12 months, the coalition and the sector have been warning the government of the consequences of their decisions to force these requirements on the aged-care sector when it is under severe strain from workforce shortages. Let's be clear: in doing what they're doing, Labor has also gone against the recommendations of the royal commission, which recognised that it would take time for these requirements to be put in place. The Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, has consistently refused to listen to these concerns, so now we're seeing more and more older Australians forced out of their homes and no action being taken by this government to address this issue.

With these closures, we've also seen 325 fewer beds available for older Australians. This is despite the minister warning 'the Boomers are coming', and yet she's clearly doing nothing about it. So how many more aged-care homes are going to have to shut their doors, because we want aged-care providers to be providing older Australians with care, not worrying about— (Time expired)