Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always good to follow the member for Moreton in his passionate speech, particularly about aged care, and it's great to have so many Labor people up here speaking on this important issue. It's something that we need to all consider, given that we're all ageing and we're all going to get there at some point—some sooner than others, as I note especially when I stand in this chamber with those around me now.

We need to do better in the aged-care sector. Currently 1.3 million Australians are receiving some form of aged care, provided by about 400,000 dedicated nurses and carers. I must say that the reports we've seen on Four Corners don't reflect all of the great work that is being done by some of those hardworking and dedicated aged carers. Given that we're all ageing and we'll all be there at some point, in order to keep up with the monumental demand, which is going to increase exponentially by 2056, the aged-care workforce needs to triple to adequately deliver services. Older Australian will make up around one in four of the population. There are over 14,000 age pensioners living in my electorate of Lindsay. Not all of them receive aged care, but it is fair to say that at some point they will. We need to establish this new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and we need do it now—no more stalling, no more waiting.

Given the government dumped Labor's $1.5 billion workforce compact and supplement after the 2013 election, we have consistently called for the development of a comprehensive aged-care workforce development strategy to address the issues of training and staffing levels on an ageing workforce. The government finally addressed workforce issues by announcing $1.9 million for an aged-care workforce taskforce in the 2017-18 budget; however, when the government made the membership of its task force public six months later, it failed, ironically, to include any representatives from the aged-care workforce.

The government's long-term inaction in the aged-care sector means devastating things for everyday Australians. The quality standards and reporting systems are not working, as was very adequately outlined by the member for Moreton. Aged-care workers are under immense pressure to cope with the increasing amount of work and the same—in some cases less—pay, respect and support. I've had representations in my electorate from aged-care workers who are not given adequate breaks; they're not given adequate training; and they're not given adequate conditions to work in under the pressure that they do, lovingly and caringly providing assistance and support to older Australians.

The government, however, thinks that funding just 14,000 new home care packages is enough to deal with the backlog that we have seen grow to 108,000 people currently waiting in the last six months, including 88,000 people with high needs, many living with dementia. Around 54,000 Australians are receiving no packages at all. I watched my great-uncle suffer with dementia. It's not a pleasant disease to watch somebody die from. It's not a pleasant thing to watch them lose all their functions and their ability to be alive, slowly and painfully. We need aged-care workers who are adequately trained and also a government who is willing to openly and transparently provide that support.

The average wait time for somebody at the moment for a level 3 and 4 package is still more than 12 months. I can't imagine watching what my great-uncle went through and then saying that we've got to wait another three or four or 12 months. I don't know what our family would have done. We are also awaiting key data, including a state and territory breakdown of the home care package wait list. Australians who rely on these services also deserve to know when the government's budget, which announced the 14,000 places, will be released and delivered.

It is now clear, though, that the government and the minister have failed to curb the growing home care package wait list and have done nothing whatsoever to reduce this aged-care crisis that has occurred under their watch. The Liberal government shouldn't be waiting for the royal commission to finish before starting to make an effort to fix this national crisis. I note that in May, when Bill Shorten said to this parliament that there was a crisis in the aged-care sector, the government called it the equivalent of committing elder abuse. It is good that they are now actually starting to listen and pay attention. It's a shame that it took Four Corners to reveal that, but that's another reason why we need a good ABC, I guess.

More than two months after this minister for aged care received the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce's report A matter of care, the Liberal government finally released their strategy. On the other side they seem to be a government of blue skies and rainbows and unicorns. It would seem that they're planning on driving this reform in the sector without having to provide any additional funding whatsoever to implement the strategy. The strategy needs to consider issues such as the proposal for 24-hour registered nurse coverage at residential aged-care facilities as well as the important role of professionals such as GPs, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and dietitians and the impact that the allied healthcare profession can have on older Australians. I acknowledge the chair of this report, John Pollaers, for his important work, and I implore the government to take on the strategy seriously and implement it now without any further delay.

It was only in May this year that the government was refusing to acknowledge that our aged-care system was in a state of national crisis, a crisis that has been caused by endless cuts to this sector. After six years and three prime ministers, those opposite still can't get it right. In his first year as Treasurer, the now Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, cut almost $2 billion from the aged-care sector. Despite this track record, I hope that he makes good and takes this crisis seriously. We've seen report after report and review after review ignored, just collecting dust on the shelves of all of us who have copies of them in our offices, without the government showing any desire or ability to fix the problems. The government's inaction, denial and cruel cuts have manifested in not even being able to fill three vacancies on its advisory council, which is quite concerning given the level of responsibility that the advisory council has. We only have to look at the budget and no further to understand that those opposite have never, and will never, put the best interests of older Australians front and centre. We see that not just in the aged-care crisis but also in their cutting the energy supplement and cutting back Medicare services for older Australians. This government is completely out of touch when it comes to older Australians. It will never put them front and centre, this generation of people who have worked hard to give us the standard of living that we all enjoy now.

The government hasn't allocated a single dollar for Australia's aged-care system in this year's budget. Not only did it underdeliver, but the budget was also quite dishonest and underhanded in trying to say that it funded things which it didn't. Playing politics with the lives of old people is never fun. It's now evident, by the government's own admission, that the 2018-19 budget response of 14,000 home care packages over four years is woefully inadequate, given that the waiting list, as I said before, is up to 108,000. Disappointingly, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison—and-who's-next?—government has shown a complete lack of commitment to our older Australians by cutting billions from the aged-care system. It is often said in this place that you are judged by how you treat your most vulnerable people, and I think this is an appalling indictment and a sad reflection on those opposite. Funding only 14,000 new in-home aged-care packages over four years is cruel and made even worse by the fact that the funding is coming from within the aged-care budget, not from new money. Instead of focusing on the needs of older Australians, those opposite have been quite busy and quite successful at fighting themselves. If only they were as good at fighting for older Australians as they are at fighting themselves, I think we'd all be in a better position here. They've denied their duty of care.

In contrast, though, Labor has a strong track record when it comes to ageing reform. It was Labor that introduced the historic Living Longer Living Better reforms in 2012, and it will be Labor that will make ageing and dementia a national priority. Only a Labor government will fight to make sure that older Australians are getting their fair share. The government has created this aged-care crisis and ignored it for so long now that it's going to take a mammoth effort on our part to fix it when we're in government. It astounds me that this government can justify $80 billion in tax cuts for the big end of town, including $17 billion for the big-bank fat cats, while stripping away funding from our most vulnerable Australians. I think it's important to point out the anomalies in giving people a tax cut while older Australians with dementia and high needs are basically left to rot in a state of disarray. It's particularly cruel, though, after the government promised older Australians it would address the injustices in the aged-care sector. The government needs to apologise for constantly overpromising and underdelivering and for failing older Australians while giving away $80 billion in tax cuts. Those opposite must start to work collaboratively with unions and aged-care providers in order to compete with the growing demands and pressures being placed on the sector and to correct the injustices that have been done in the aged-care frame.

If this government fails to act, we will see not only the material impact on older Australians but also the mental impact of the stress and anxiety in the minds of older Australians who are left to fight for themselves and the families and carers who look after them voluntarily. This government has created the crisis, and it needs to come clean and fix it. Its failure to fix this crisis is an absolute reflection on how this government feels about older Australians.

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