Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, dementia is a very, very serious issue. This government certainly intends to do all that we reasonably can to help aged-care providers to provide appropriately for their patients with dementia. The problem is that the scheme that the Leader of the Opposition refers to was poorly designed and grossly underfunded by the former government. The former government allocated, as I recall, about $10 million for this particular scheme. Because of the poor design, at least 10 times that amount was spent in a very short space of time. We have suspended the program and we are working with aged-care providers to redesign the program on a basis that is sustainable so that people with dementia get the care that they deserve.

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