Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I outlined in the other chamber last week, Australians are sick and tired of the ALP using our most vulnerable citizens to score political points. It's both inappropriate and disappointing. It's one of the reasons Australians chose a Liberal-National government to rely on and not those opposite. There is no doubt all Australians want their loved ones looked after and well cared for, and want conditions to improve.

The royal commission said that just as striking as the shocking findings was the love, dedication and determination of people who are or have been a parent, relative, friend, carer or advocate. We have been left with a great sense of pride in the way most ordinary Australians care for their loved ones and are overwhelmed by their devotion and commitment. This is about the great people who built our country—our parents and grandparents, our most vulnerable and frail citizens. It's about them, not politics. 'People before politics' is what we say on our side.

I agree with the commission's view, as it was my very personal and sometimes confronting experience. I have visited 11 aged-care facilities in Moncrieff since July, and I continue to visit them. The staff I met are dedicated carers. I met Yolanda at Opal Ashmore; Marg and Jodie, along with Linda, a volunteer of 10 years, at Opal Leamington; Karen at Lady Small Haven; Donna at Estia Health; and Alison at HillView—all devoted carers. I met families, including Jane Hely, whose parents, Margaret and John Coker, were unfortunately separated in the Earle Haven event. I met residents themselves, like Vicki, who painted an artwork that now hangs in my office here in Canberra, and 94-year-old Faye, who wears her Camilla dress at Estia Health in Southport. These wonderful people are deeply dedicated to one another.

This is why I'll make a stand now in this place by not facilitating the continuation of political pointscoring in my patch on the central Gold Coast, where the member for Gaven and Senator Watt, since the events that unfolded at Earle Haven on 11 July, have been busy cooking up their schemes to raise their profiles. The good people of Moncrieff see through it, as do I.

I'm using my time to outline an update on what the government is actually doing to improve the lives of our elderly, their families and the workers. The Carnell report has indeed been released, the recommendations have been agreed to and work is well underway to reform the sector. The 2019-20 budgeted amount to go into the aged-care sector is $21.7 billion. The Morrison government's response to the interim report is $537 million—more than half a billion dollars—and it's immediate. There is $496.3 million for an additional 10,000 home care packages, increasing from 60,308 in 2012-13 under Labor to 150,412 in 2019-20 under the Liberal-National government; that's an increase of 149 per cent. There is $25.5 million to improve medication management programs to reduce the use of medication as a chemical restraint on residents in aged care and at home, and there are new restrictions on the use of medication as a chemical restraint. There is $10 million for additional dementia training and support for aged-care workers and providers, including to reduce the use of chemical restraints, and $4.7 million to help meet new targets to remove younger people with disabilities from residential aged care. In line with the long-term directions identified by the royal commission the government will also progress further measures, including the provision of simpler aged-care assessments by creating a single assessment workforce and network and the establishment of a single unified system for care of our elderly in the home.

To finish, I ask all of those opposite to support the changes and the reforms the government is undertaking for the aged in our communities, including all of those in my electorate of Moncrieff. There are so many workers, friends, family and children who take care of their parents day in and day out. They volunteer, look after one another and absolutely adore one another. I ask those opposite to support the reforms that the Morrison government is undertaking in the aged-care sector. I ask for their support. We will improve the lives of so many Queenslanders and Australians across the nation.

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