Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

Before I start on the MPI, I would like to say to the resources minister, while he's here in the chamber: Stop PEP-11. You can do it with the stroke of a pen. I'll pass you one across the chamber.

We're now in the third year of a pandemic, and this government is focused on itself instead of doing its job and protecting vulnerable Australians. We saw this over the summer when Omicron tore across New South Wales—including in my electorate on the Central Coast, where one in five people are aged over 65. We saw record daily case numbers, a severe shortage of rapid antigen tests, and deadly outbreaks in aged-care homes. What did the government do? They denied the problem and shifted the blame, instead of protecting some of the most vulnerable Australians—frail, elderly Australians, many living with dementia, isolated, alone and afraid in aged-care homes.

We have a crisis in aged care. We have more than 10,000 active COVID cases in aged-care homes across Australia. Tragically, 622 people have died from COVID this year in aged care, and the government denies there's a problem. While there are tens of thousands of aged-care residents who still haven't had a booster, and there are thousands of shifts unfilled because workers have COVID or are isolating, aged-care homes and staff are in crisis. Staff are overworked and underpaid, and they deserve more than this government. There are people like Leanne, who's an aged-care worker from Lake Haven from my community on the Central Coast. Leanne told me their situation is dire. She said: 'Aged-care workers are exhausted and at breaking point. I've seen people crying whilst at work through sheer frustration, helplessness, anger and despair. All of us are anxious about going to work, unsure what we will be confronted with—staff shortages, positive rapid tests and never enough time to do all that is required.'

What has this government done? Have they supported aged-care workers' calls for better wages, better conditions and safe staffing levels, to help them care for the most vulnerable, frail, older Australians? No. What they've done, in a cynical move on the eve of an election, is to offer aged-care workers up to $800 in a bonus payment.

An opposition member: It's offensive.

It is offensive. It's insulting. Aged-care workers deserve better. Most aged-care workers are paid around $22 an hour—$22 an hour. What they need is an urgent pay rise, like the Productivity Commission recommended, not a small pay-off on the eve of an election.

For nearly a decade this government has been denying the crisis in aged care, a crisis largely of its own making. Over the summer, when COVID cases were at their worst, where was the minister for aged care? The minister was at the cricket—as our shadow minister has said, not for one day, not for two days, but for three days. While omicron was raging through aged care, while staff were there without PPE, while people couldn't get a rapid antigen test, while people were alone and afraid and isolated, the minister was at the cricket.

One of the biggest problems we faced over the summer was a shortage of rapid antigen tests. In my community on the Central Coast, people were desperate for rapid antigen tests—including one of my constituents, whose four-year-old granddaughter is in palliative care. To visit her in hospital, her parents need to have a negative rapid antigen test every three days. After they used their last test they contacted my office, desperate. This is what the grandfather said: 'We have tried to purchase RAT kits but have been unsuccessful. It would be unthinkable if their daughter was to die and they could not see her because of the unavailability of RAT kits.' This should not happen. This should not happen to this grandparent, to this family or to anyone in Australia. It's devastating.

The government was warned last September, and earlier, to shore up rapid antigen tests. And what did they do? They left the most vulnerable people exposed and at risk and families unable to visit loved ones who were in palliative care. Families should not be forced into this position because of a shortage of RATs. Test kits should be available freely to all Australians. As I said, this government was warned, and what did they do? They failed to act, leaving the most vulnerable Australians at risk. They promised to supply more rapid antigen tests to aged-care homes, but according to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation more than a quarter of aged-care staff say their workplace is not giving them free RATs.

The HSU national president, Gerard Hayes, said recently there are active outbreaks in hundreds of aged-care facilities across the country, yet workers can't access RATs and PPE. They are on the front line with very little protection. The Morrison government has effectively abandoned the sector under the premise of living with this virus. We need a government that stops focusing on itself and starts putting the health and safety of Australians first. We need a change of government.

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