David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the opportunity to address this matter of public importance today. One of the best written TV programs of all times is The Simpsons, and one of the recurring motifs of The Simpsons is Bart turning up somewhere and being depicted as saying: 'It wasn't me. I didn't break it. It was broken when I got here.' We've heard 10 minutes from the minister saying: 'It was Labor. It was broken before I got here.' But the minister has been part of a government that's been in power since 2013 and bears responsibility for what the current situation is with aged-care packages. It is not good enough that the minister says that Labor failed to do anything before 2013. There has been sufficient time to add resources into this sector, and clearly the evidence shows that those resources should have been put in before now.

The release of the latest data on the Turnbull government's Home Care Packages has revealed that there are more than 100,000 older Australians who are languishing in limbo waiting for care. It's not good enough, Minister, that you say that's the responsibility of Labor over five years ago. These figures include around 80,000 older Australians waiting with high needs, many with dementia. This is a crisis. It is unacceptable. It is absolutely unacceptable for you to play the role of Bart Simpson and say, 'It was broken before I got here.' The Turnbull government's own website states that most of these vulnerable older Australians will be waiting more than a year for a package. This has flow-on effects that go beyond the immediate concern of older Australians waiting for care. Families are placed under pressure, trying to ensure their loved ones have acceptable care, while simultaneously attempting to navigate a complicated system. Older Australians who would otherwise have access to a home-care package are, instead, forced to visit emergency rooms, which has a real impact on health departments and budgets at a state level.

Minister, I've seen this in operation. I've seen what happens when constituents approach your office about the fact that they've been assessed for a level 4 package, but, after a wait of over a year, they get an offer of a level 2 package. Minister, a constituent of mine from Bridport, Diana, has written to your office about the particular issues that she has experienced. She wrote to you indicating that, late in 2016, she was assessed for a level 4 package. After a year, she was approved for a level 2 package. She contacted My Aged Care and established there is a further wait for a level 3 package of six to nine months and for a level 4 package it is over 12 months. She has a chronic situation with advanced arthritis caused by a rheumatic condition, which means that she has had multiple operations. She requires substantial assistance, which is evidenced by the fact that she's been assessed for a level 4 package. Minister, it's not good enough to condemn Diana, and many others like her, to substantial waits when she should be given assistance. It is necessary for people with many co-morbidities to be given practical assistance in their own homes before they are admitted to the emergency department of a hospital because they require substantial care.

The Australian public deserves much better than this, Minister. It deserves a minister who gives attention to argue the case within cabinet for additional resources to be allocated. It's not enough, Minister, for you to recognise belatedly that there is substantial demand for additional aged-care packages and then drip-feed further packages into the market.

Returning to the situation with Diana, she lives in a country town which is approximately 100 kilometres away from Launceston, in northern Tasmania. She found it necessary to approach over 20 providers to try to organise her own care package, which is already acknowledged to be less than what she needs for her ongoing care and assistance. I cannot begin to describe the substantial levels of stress and anxiety that have been caused by the indifference of this government about the level of these packages and the fact that people like Diana can't receive the appropriate assistance that they deserve and need. Minister, please listen to this.

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