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

What a surprise! In 10 minutes we didn't hear one defence of the Prime Minister's comments in question time yesterday where he told a 60-year-old aged-care worker that they should aspire to a better job. I wonder why the minister didn't defend that comment and why he didn't defend the Prime Minister.

Mr Laundy interjecting—

You didn't say a word about aged-care workers and you didn't defend the Prime Minister and what he said about aged-care workers. Why wouldn't you? It's because what he said was appalling. I think it shows that those on the other side don't interact with aged-care workers and their ilk. We on this side, of course, meet with aged-care workers all of the time. We meet with people who care for others in our community and we talk to them. Over 360,000 aged-care workers were insulted by what the Prime Minister said yesterday, yet the minister for workplace relations come to the dispatch box and talks for 10 minutes and does not even mention that comment! That comment was so insulting. To cast any doubt on these workers and what they do is appalling.

Anyone who has ever spoken to an aged-care worker, visited a facility or visited the home of an older person who has a home care worker come and visit them knows the incredible work they do and how hard they work. These people are feeding older Australians, they are showering older Australians and they are helping them with their chores so that they can stay at home or so that they can live with dignity and respect in their residential aged-care facility. It is not okay for this government to say things like the Prime Minister said yesterday—it is absolutely not okay—and for the minister to be silent on it shows that they really have no respect whatsoever for aged-care workers.

We know that they don't have much respect for childcare workers. We know that they don't have much respect for teachers and early childhood educators—for people who are teaching our young people. We know that they don't have respect for nurses and people working in our health system. We know this because this is a government that has wanted to cut health funding and does not want to support people who want to go back to work in terms of child care. We have families in Australia today who are missing out because of this government's childcare changes. We have kids that want to go to university in my home state of Tasmania but, with the university cuts, we know that places are going to be capped. So, even if you have a bit of aspiration and you want your kids to go to university, this government is saying to them, 'There'll be a cap on that, and not every child who wants to go to university will be able to.'

They come in here and they want to talk about aspiration for Australians. People that work in aged care, child care and education have aspirations. They have aspirations to care for our community. They have an aspiration to care for the vulnerable. They have an aspiration to actually put something back into their community. Just because a job is paid less does not mean it is valued less. That is the value judgement that we heard from the Prime Minister yesterday. It is the value judgement that we continually hear from those on the other side.

They seem to think that a job and its pay are the value of that work. That is absolutely not true. Absolutely not true! It shows their contempt for Australian workers when they continually repeat that rhetoric, use words like 'aspiration' and twist things. They come in here and say things like, 'People should aspire to get a better job when they're a childcare worker,' because that is what they really believe. Those on the other side actually really believe that you get paid for the value of your work.

We all know on this side of the House—and Australians know—that that is not true. There are people, millions of them, in Australia today who are doing difficult, rewarding jobs and who are not well paid. There are millions of Australians who are working in areas like child care, in areas like hospitality, in areas like aged care and in areas like disability, who are doing really, truly valuable work, who are not being valued and who have no value put on them by this government.

Interestingly, of the 360,000 aged-care workers, a majority of them—in fact, over 75 per cent—are women. They are women in insecure casual jobs. They are women who don't know what shift they're going to get next week. They are women who are going to people's homes to care for vulnerable people. This government does not value those workers, and that's what the Prime Minister said to them yesterday. It is outrageous, and this government should do better!

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