Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I say to those opposite: is there anything that they won't politicise? I note the contribution of the previous speaker, and they are the facts: there are more women in aged care. But that is because, quite simply, they live longer than men on average. That is just a statement of fact. So there will be more people in aged care who are female, because they live longer than men on average. That is just pretty straightforward. On all of these claims, once again, if we talk to the opposition, up is down, left is right, everything is incorrect and it's all a cut, cut, cut. I'll go to a quote on 17 September from that great supporter of the coalition at crikey.com, Bernard Keane, who I'm sure you've heard of, Mr Deputy Speaker. I quote from Mr Keane's article:

The claim that the Coalition cut funding from aged care is a bald-faced lie …

This is not someone who is in this chamber. It's not someone who writes the budget. It is quite simply someone in the media who put out a statement. I've got to say Mr Keane has probably not been that strong in his support for government positions before, but that is the quote:

The claim that the Coalition cut funding from aged care is a bald-faced lie …

So, once again, we have those on the opposite side out there making things up.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know, all politics is local. In my electorate of Hinkler, between Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, including the good burghers of Childers, Woodgate and everywhere in between, we have one of the largest percentages of elderly people in the country. As at March 2018, 27,738 people were on the age pension in Hinkler and 47,506 have a pensioner concession card out of roughly 104,000 voters. That is a substantial amount of the population. Why are they there? They are there for a few reasons. The first one is it is a fantastic place to retire. It really is. Housing is affordable and the weather is wonderful, with an average temperature of 25 degrees. You can live at the beach. There are all sorts of facilities, particularly medical and aged care.

One of the issues that's been raised with me a number of times over the years—it was very bad about three years ago and it is very bad again now—is the wait time for ACAT assessments. The federal government funds ACAT assessments through the state and the state coordinates the resources that deliver ACAT assessments. The wait times for ACAT assessments are once again unacceptable.

It seems to me that if you live in the city you get looked after by the Queensland Labor government, but if you live in the regions you wait months for your ACAT assessment. I find that unacceptable. I've called for it before and I'll call for it again. They need to provide sufficient resources into the regions—

Dr Leigh interjecting—

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