Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Aged Care Bill 2024. I'll go into the bill itself, but could I first say that the retiring member for Parkes has been one of the most honourable people who has ever served in this place. He has probably been one of the most connected to his vast community among those who have ever served in this place. If I can conduct myself in this place with the decency of the member for Parkes I'll be a very proud person. I wish him well.

Aged care, as the member for Parkes did say, is so important. Any change to aged-care policy has real consequences, some anticipated and some unintended.

The last tranche of changes, while in line with recommendations of the royal commission, did cause some issues in my electorate. Sadly, a community based nursing home in a place called Nathalia had to close. That was called Barwo, and it closed because it could neither afford the changes that needed to be implemented nor recruit the highly qualified staff required. That result is not a good outcome for the community or the elderly residents of the town who want to live out their days there.

I just want to explain a little bit about this place called Nathalia. It's primarily a dairying town, but there's some cropping around there too. These people live their lives on the land. They work incredibly hard—harder than a lot of Australians, I'd say—getting up at the crack of dawn to milk cows, as the member for Forrest has done through her career. What happens is that one of the couple probably, if I could say, deteriorates faster than the other. The member for Parkes explained this: someone has to go into care first. When you've got a small community place in a small town, like Nathalia, and one of the couple needs to stay out on the farm—or, indeed, in the house that they've bought in town—it means they can be close to each other until the end. That's so important, not only for the couple but also for the children who have taken over the farm and will continue to live in the region. Now, that might not be a big deal in suburban Melbourne, where, if you need to move into a new place, it's still only 10 or 15 minutes down the road. Sometimes, some of these people from Barwo have had to go an hour away. What does that mean to a couple where someone's had to move an hour away? Sometimes the people who are left at home can't drive. The kids are a long way away from those people. It's an example.

I am going to give some credit to the government on elements of what's been agreed here, but I think it's another element of the current government not quite understanding that regional Australia works differently to the metropolitan areas. It needs some exemptions, and it needs to be treated a little bit differently in the legislation. This is just one example of that. If I could bring anything to this place, it's to try to explain that things are a bit different out in regional Australia, as the member for Forrest does, and we've got to have legislation that acknowledges and understands that.

High-quality aged care is the right of every Australian, and the opposition provided a clear offer to work with the government on sensible aged-care policies because we need a system that's strong and sustainable to support future generations. It is important that we recognise that aged care is not merely a sector; it is a reflection of who we are as a society. In response to the royal commission, the former coalition government provided more than $18 billion in funding to support the immediate needs of the sector, and through good-faith negotiations our aim has been to ensure that any reforms provide dignity and clarity for older Australians. We have held the government to account, to finally introduce their package of reform that brings all Australians into this important conversation.

The challenges of aged care are clear and undeniable. They don't just exist in this country but all around the world. More than half of the aged-care homes across Australia are operating at a loss. We have an ageing population, and their future care is a source of stress for elderly Australians and their children and grandchildren. There's a desire for people to age at home, and the way aged care is delivered and supported needs to change. We all acknowledge that.

The Aged Care Bill 2024 represents a significant package of reforms, which is why we have sought immediate referral to the Community Affairs and Legislation Committee for inquiry. Aged care is so important, and the changes to it impact so many. We need to really engage and have a proper conversation. I'd like to acknowledge that this is one of those times when I think the coalition and the government have worked pretty well together. I'm always keen to try and explain that it's not all about us yelling at each other in question time, but there are times when all people of good faith try to negotiate an outcome that's right. It might not be perfect for everyone—and I've indicated some of the concerns I still have—but in good-faith negotiations, the coalition has achieved significant changes to the government's proposed legislation that will protect the interests of older Australians. The coalition fought for the inclusion of grandfathering arrangements to ensure that every Australian who has already commenced their journey of ageing within the Commonwealth system will not be impacted by these changes. That means that all older Australians currently in the system, including those on a home-care package waiting list, will not pay one cent more for their aged-care journey.

As a fairer deal for hardworking Australians, the coalition fought for the inclusion of a much lower taper rate to ensure equitable contributions for Australians who have worked hard all their lives to save for their retirement and an assurance that the federal government, not the consumer, will remain the majority funder of aged care, although the consumer will contribute.

The coalition fought for the maintenance of a lifetime cap on care contributions across both residential care and home care to provide certainty to families who may have loved ones in care for many years, as well as the inclusion of a time limited cap for residential aged care to ensure that older Australians and their families will only be required to contribute to care costs for four years. The government's original proposal saw no cap on home care and a $184,000 cap on residential aged care only. We've gained the concession that no older Australian will pay more than $130,000 for non-clinical care in home care and residential care combined.

The really important one that the retiring member for Forrest and the equally distinguished retiring member for Grey, who've both been wonderful members of this place, have fought for because they understand regional and rural Australia is the coalition's securing of $300 million dollars in additional capital funding through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program for regional, rural and remote aged-care providers to upgrade their facilities, as well as additional care funding, particularly for regional, rural and remote aged-care homes. I've explained how important it is to keep some of these places in smaller communities open and taking people. Targeted support for rural, regional and remote aged-care homes was not included in the initial proposal. It's there now.

There is the removal of criminal penalties. We strongly pushed for the removal of the criminal penalties from the bill following serious concerns that their inclusion would force the exit of highly capable staff from the sector in fear of being criminally punished to a level not seen in other industries. The Albanese government wanted aged-care workers, and even volunteers, to be criminally liable, and we thought that was inappropriate.

We don't need unionism in every aged-care home. In fact, we can't have it when we're trying to understand the needs of regional and rural Australia. Labor wanted a workers representative to be able to come into every single aged-care home and demand an explanation on any aspect of its operations. Now, we support aged-care providers working consultatively with their staff, but we don't want unions to march into aged-care homes and tell them how to do their jobs, and we successfully fought to remove that provision.

This bill aims to ensure that Commonwealth aged-care services remain accessible to those who require them today and into the future, and it aims to promote dignity, independence and a meaningful life for older Australians, which the coalition remains committed to. We want to consult with older Australians and the sector. As a regional member—I've explained this previously—I understand that we do face unique challenges. The fact that they will get significantly increased funding for people in their care is really important. I'm really proud that we were able to fight for that, and I want to give some credit to Minister Wells for listening. The best policy in this place happens when we all collaborate and say, 'This is what I'm hearing from my people. This is what you're hearing from your people. This is what is doable. This is what we can't do.' Even though I still have some concerns, there's a bit of that in this, and I think that Australians will be pleased with the way we've done that.

Aged care is very personal. We've all been there, or we're all going to be there, in that situation with a loved one. In my case, it was my maternal grandmother, Molly Dunham. She'd had a fall. We put her in the hospital and we knew she wasn't going to go back home. In the town of Shepparton, in which she'd lived her whole life, she was able to go into a facility that looked after her and treated her with dignity. The last time I ever saw her alive was when I went into that place and saw the staff making sure she was okay. She had a cup of tea and was enjoying her time.

If I can, I will just share that, during the campaign—this is how small some of our communities are—I went doorknocking around an area of Shepparton and I banged on a door with my leaflet and I said, 'Hello. I'm Sam Birrell. I'm your Nationals candidate for Nicholls,' and she said, 'I remember you. You're Molly's grandson. I worked at Mercy care and I looked after Molly.' That was a pretty emotional moment for both of us because I'd been in there all the time visiting Nanna, and this person, who I was now asking for her vote, had looked after her in her final months.

Shepparton Villages is another aged-care provider in my electorate, and that had a new facility built recently. It probably opened about five or six years ago. It was opened by a member of this place, the then Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt. Former minister Wyatt came in and gave a beautiful speech to the residents of Shepparton Villages saying: 'You deserve this place because your efforts, your risk, your work, the investment of your capital built Shepparton. You deserve the most relaxing, enjoyable—

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