Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister directly said today that people in aged care should 'aspire to get a better job'. I wonder whether the government and the minister over there agree with this. We on this side of the house actually support aged-care workers. We admire the hard work that they do every day in residential aged care, day in, day out, supporting older Australians. It was an insult to them and an outrageous slur when the Prime Minister of the country stood up in question time today and said that they should aspire to get a better job.

Everything in this budget, this government's past cuts of billions of dollars to residential aged care, the fact that they've delayed action on the workforce and the fact their workforce task force doesn't have a workers representative on it show that this government does not support workers in the aged-care system, particularly those in residential care, and we heard that clearly from the Prime Minister today. Australians who are caring for older Australians, who are vulnerable, who need support, deserve some respect. They are not the highest paid workers in the country, that is true, but they work extraordinarily hard, day in, day out, trying to support older Australians, their loved ones and their carers.

I call on the Prime Minister to apologise for what he said in parliament today, and this minister should ensure that the Prime Minister does apologise for what he said in parliament today, because aged-care workers in Australia deserve better. They deserve much better than what we saw from this government today. The history of aged care under this government is one of a revolving door of ministers—it's up to three ministers—and cuts in the past. So to have the government say that this budget is so wonderful for older Australians and then to have the comments from the Prime Minister today shows exactly what this government thinks of older Australians and the people who work to support them. Quite frankly, it's extraordinarily disappointing, and I would have expected much better.

The Minister for Health, the senior minister here, said prior to the budget that it was going to be a very good budget for health, and for aged care in particular. We know now that not one extra dollar is going to aged care that wasn't already in the forward estimates.

Mr Hunt interjecting—

The minister might want to answer some questions instead of trying to be patronising, saying I don't know how to read a budget. I do know how to read a budget, Minister. There are over 100,000 Australians still waiting for home care packages. You know that, and everybody in this place knows that—but, importantly, older Australians and their loved ones know that. They know that they are still waiting for packages. You've been in government for five years, there have been three ministers, and billions of dollars have been cut. You need to take responsibility for the crisis that you have created whilst you have been in government, and you should stop perpetuating a hoax on older Australians. The Prime Minister should apologise for what he said today.

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