Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Ageing. Given that the minister’s department identified the need for 1,208 new residential aged-care beds in Western Australia in the 2008-09 aged-care approvals round but delivered only 519 new beds, a shortfall of 689, and that in the first 15 months of the government’s term over 280 Western Australian bed licences were handed back to the department, can the minister advise the House where future aged and frail Western Australians in the southern suburbs of Perth will be accommodated in aged care? And how does the minister propose to make bed licences attractive to Western Australian providers?

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. I outlined to the House yesterday some of the investment we have made when it comes to aged care in Western Australia. I will run through that again shortly, but can I again confirm that the situation we inherited was over a decade of neglect from the previous government, particularly when it comes to health, hospitals and aged care as well. Since coming into government, as I pointed out yesterday, we have seen record funding. Indeed, over the next four years, our funding for aged and community care will reach $44 billion.

Wilson Tuckey (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I refer you to House of Representatives Practice, 5th edition, page 48, where it refers to the 1976 report of the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration, which stated:

It is through ministers that the whole of the administration—departments, statutory bodies and agencies of one kind and another—is responsible to the Parliament …

I draw your attention to the fact that this is a question about supplying assistance and facilities to aged people with dementia. It is wrong for the minister to raise issues either of the past or, more particularly, to read a diatribe of expenditure that is not materialised. Give the old people a go!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for O’Connor will resume his place. The question was in order. The minister is responding to the question. It would assist if the chamber listened to the answer.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was referring to the neglect of the previous government when it comes to aged care—over a decade of neglect. I note that the member for Sturt seems to be interjecting quite a lot. Perhaps we can recall the time when he was the Minister for Ageing. I think his only contribution was when he said he didn’t like old people. That was the sole contribution he made.

Let us get back to Western Australia. As I said, this government has invested record amounts in aged and community facilities—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Sturt! The minister has the call. I was just trying to get the member for Sturt to remain quiet.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since the election of the Rudd government, operational residential aged-care beds in Western Australia have increased by nearly 90 beds and community care places by more than 820. Indeed, the latest aged-care approvals round saw a total of 1,544 new aged-care places for Western Australia. It consisted of 519 residential aged-care places, as I pointed out yesterday—414 were high care and 105 low care; and 1,025 community care places worth over $50 million in annual recurrent funding. This brings the total of operational aged-care places in Western Australia to more than 19,900, which is quite a considerable number.

The member asked me generally about the aged-care approvals round and the action that this government was taking in terms of future provisions. I would like to remind the House that back in June I announced the results of the aged-care approvals round. Across the nation more than 10,000 new aged-care places were made available. That included another successful aged-care—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The minister was not asked about the national aged-care round; she was specifically asked about southern Perth. She was asked about the southern metropolitan area in Perth.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will respond to the question. The chamber will sit in silence so I can get an opportunity to listen to her.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We seem to be having interjections from a whole series of former ministers for ageing from the coalition, all of whom contributed to that neglect and did nothing in the time that they were there.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will ignore the interjectors. The interjectors will cease.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was saying, when we look at the aged-care approvals round, there were more than 10,000 places right across the country, which included more than 5,700 new residential aged-care places and over 4,699 community care places. The allocation was a mix of residential and community care places. We understand that people want to remain in their communities for as long as possible.

When that aged-care approvals round was announced it was very pleasing to see some of the support from many members of the House. I would like to share that with members today. We have a variety of different comments that members made. The member for Hinkler said he was ‘very pleased to see all of these allocations come in’. He said:

Each of these places means more people will get the care they need, when and where they need it.

We also had the member for Gippsland, when the ACAR came out—

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. On a point of relevance, I would ask that you bring the minister back to the question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! On the point of order of relevance, the minister knows her obligation to respond to the question.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker, I was merely quoting some from the coalition who were very supportive of our ACAR. One more, the member for McMillan, was very pleased about that, saying that it would ‘guarantee long-term availability of appropriate care for the aged in an area of demonstrated need’. It was great to have that support from the coalition when it came to our latest aged-care approvals round.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning will resume his seat.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning will resume his seat! The minister has the call. The minister will commence to conclude her answer.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was saying, I commend those coalition members who made very positive contributions to the aged-care approvals round. I conclude by repeating what I said yesterday about this government’s National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission agenda. What we have been doing, as the Prime Minister referred to earlier, is consultations around the country about our future health, hospital and aged-care systems. Because all these areas were neglected by the previous government and we acknowledge there is a huge amount of work to be done, we have been engaging with front-line health professionals in relation to all these important issues.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will conclude her answer.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. My electorate is in the Perth south area and I would like the question answered so that the minister can be relevant—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning will resume his seat. On the point of order of relevance, the minister will respond to the question and conclude her answer.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course, all this is in contrast to the absolute lack of policies from the coalition in relation to health and aged care—no policies at all.