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

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue that the member for Newcastle has raised, because improving aged care for senior Australians continues to be the government's key priority. As the member for Chisholm just outlined, that's why Scott Morrison, as Prime Minister, called the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and I commend him for his leadership.

The findings of the interim report into Australia's aged-care system demonstrated that aged care in this country needs significant change to ensure our older Australians receive the best possible care in their most vulnerable years. We do not shy away from our responsibility as a government to ensure our elderly are looked after and respected. In its swift response to the interim report, the government announced a funding package of $537 million. This response particularly focuses on three areas. The first is more home care packages to reduce wait times and connect people to care sooner. The second is to better manage medicine and physical restraint. The third is to help with the transition of young people out of residential care. We have set an ambitious target to stop younger people entering aged care by 2022.

It's important to highlight that these measures are not the end of the discussion on how our aged-care sector can be reformed. There's no doubt that more will need to be done; the government acknowledges that. We continue to step up and do everything we possibly can. That's why this royal commission is so important. The substance of the government's response must adequately deliver to it.

I do not support this motion, and I do not support the ongoing lies from those opposite with regard to government policy in aged care. Let's be clear: this government has delivered record investment in aged care. This government supports older Australians with more choice and better access to quality care, particularly in my electorate of Moncrieff on the Gold Coast where we have a growing and ageing population. Our record speaks for itself. Since the election, the coalition government have delivered increased investment across the aged-care system. We will deliver $5 billion in funding boosts in the forward years to 2022-23. The government remains committed to supporting senior Australians to live in their own homes longer. Since the 2018-19 budget, the Morrison government has invested in 44,000 new home care packages, at a cost of $2.7 billion.

The ongoing representation, which we see in the media and from the Labor Party, of the government as privatising aged-care assessments is false. The only people talking about privatisation here are the Labor Party members, with their union mates, who haven't yet ruled out a new universal tax on aged care of up to $40 billion. Labor can't be trusted when it comes to aged care. Labor can't be trusted with senior Australians, and they know it. Despite Labor's plan for $387 billion in new taxes at the election, including their retirees tax, which would have hurt over 6,000 seniors in my electorate alone, Labor provided no additional funding in their costings for home care places, aged-care quality, the aged-care workforce or mainstream residential aged care. This is a clear example of Labor's blatant hypocrisy on aged care.

Labor's inability to offer a single aged-care policy alternative raises many questions. They refuse to rule out a union-led, Medicare style universal levy of up to $40 billion on taxpayers before the royal commission releases its final report. All Labor can say on aged care is that they will reveal their policies closer to the election. What about the last election? Where were their policies? Where were their packages? Labor's deceit shows that they don't understand the aged-care sector and, as usual, are more interested in political spin than in genuine solutions to an important issue for Australians and their loved ones.

I want to acknowledge that, in spite of the findings from the royal commission, there are some very good home care providers out there today, right now, who do a great job. I recently visited most of the aged-care facilities in my electorate to speak with the aged-care providers and our senior Australians themselves. Caring for the elderly can be a rewarding experience, although at times it's challenging. I've been humbled by the care and compassion that aged-care workers have wrapped around our senior Gold Coasters in their golden years of life.

To close, I wish to underline an important fact: the government is focused on guaranteeing essential services for older Australians to ensure they have more choice, be that in aged care, staying at home longer or gaining access to the support they need. Every Australian has the right to age well and with dignity. Our older generations have fought to defend our democracy and worked hard to build the Australia we see today. They contribute an immeasurable amount to their communities. It's up to this generation and our government to ensure older Australians are well cared for and live out their days comfortably.

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