Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was just referring to the neglect of the previous government when it came to our aged-care sector and our health and hospital sector as well. That is what I was referring to in the comments of Greg Mundy, the CEO of Aged and Community Services. There are patch-ups that have occurred for over a decade. In contrast to that, since we have been in government we have delivered more services for older Australians, record funding for those services, and we are also committed to addressing many of the long-term pressures that are in the system through our National Health and Hospital Reform Commission. The Prime Minister spoke about that earlier, with the vast number of consultations we have had around the country with our front-line health professionals about improvements in our health, hospitals and aged-care sector—all areas in which the coalition cut funding when they were in government. The fact is that this government is committed to delivering more services for our older Australians, now and into the future. We are committed to building a modern health and hospital and aged-care system to meet the future challenges that we face.

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