Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Members on the other side make a lot of noise, but the facts speak for themselves. This government is about cutting and making things harder for anyone that looks to government for support. We have seen that time and time again in the House this week, with this mean-spirited government constantly making cuts across the board—affecting pensioners, families and students. Before the election they promised one thing; now they are in government they are delivering something else. They promised to be a government of no surprises and no excuses. That was the kind of government they said they would be; instead they have been a government that said one thing before the election and says another thing after the election—a government of broken promises. At the head of those broken promises is the Prime Minister of this country, Prime Minister Abbott, who does not blink as he comes in here and avoids answering questions or telling the truth to Australians about why he is breaking his promises.

One of the worst things this government has done is remove the dementia and severe behaviours supplement. In relation to that, it is really important that we look at what is happening in the area of dementia. In the last parliament I delivered a report from the Health and Ageing Committee that looked at dementia. Dementia is one of the biggest health issues facing Australia today. We have to make sure that adequate resources are going into providing care and services for people who are living with dementia. It has been called a national crisis and it is looming as a health disaster. There is not enough money going into research in this area, and currently there are 330,000 Australians living with dementia. Each week, more than 1,700 people are being diagnosed with dementia. The figure is set to rise to 7,000 a week, or a total of one million people, by 2050. These numbers are huge. It is a tragedy for our society and for the families of these people, and it is a tragedy that this government has removed the dementia supplement which was put in place to ensure that aged-care facilities had the proper resources to care for people living with dementia.

I would like to refer to some comments that have been made in this area. One is in relation to research. Only $22 million was spent on dementia research in 2012-13, in comparison to the $162.4 million that was spent on cancer research. Cancer research is very important but these figures show that this government is not prepared to invest in ensuring that people living with dementia are properly cared for. I would like to quote the CEO of Aged and Community Services Australia. He says the dementia supplement is a 'very necessary supplement' and that losing it will have an enormous impact.

This government is selling older Australians out. This government said one thing before the election and does another thing after. Its approach to aged care—ripping, as it has, all the money out of aged care—puts the most vulnerable people in our society at risk. Instead of supporting older people, who have given so much to our country, it is walking away from them.

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