Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One year ago, the Prime Minister promised there would be no surprises and no excuses from a new coalition government. But, one year later, what have we seen? A new GP tax, increases in the petrol tax, cuts to pensions, cuts to schools, cuts to hospitals, cuts to superannuation and cuts to universities. One of the nastiest surprises and one of the most egregious broken promises is the heartless decision to cut the Dementia and Severe Behaviour Supplement—no warning, no consultation, no solutions; just finger-pointing and more excuses from the government.

There are more than 330,000 vulnerable Australians living with dementia. By 2050, there will be almost one million. As our population ages we will need to do more, not less, to address the challenge of dementia and support those affected by it. This government is burying its head in the sand and simply trying to walk away from a condition that already affects so many Australians. The previous Labor government did the heavy lifting to make the aged-care sector more sustainable and fairer, with wider community consultation and sector support. In contrast, the Abbott government has dumped the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement; slashed the $652.7 million from the Aged Care Payroll Tax Supplement; made cuts to pensions which will affect the aged-care sector revenue streams; demolished the $1.1 billion Aged Care Workforce Supplement; and abolished Health Workforce Australia, which has been doing so much to meet the challenges of an ageing workforce.

Rather than take responsibility and show leadership, those opposite have sat on their hands and pointed the finger of blame at Labor. The oversubscription of the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement happened on their watch. It would have been picked up if it was a challenge when they came to government, but they failed to release the books, the incoming brief that they had received, when they came to government. It was such an issue in late 2013 and it should have been addressed in MYEFO, but it was not addressed in MYEFO. It was not mentioned in the Commission of Audit and there was nothing in the budget. Do those opposite really believe that the Australian public will accept that the oversubscription was only noticed in June this year?

The Minister for Social Services and his assistant minister need to stop the finger-pointing and pathetic excuses. They need to step up and show some leadership. What we need is an explanation from this government. Why did they wait until after the budget, after aged-care providers had made their plans, hired their staff and implemented their own budgets? If it is good enough for aged-care providers operating on tight margins and limited staff, then surely it is good enough for the government to keep its eye on the ball. This is incompetence and ineptitude.

Globally, humanity is ageing at a faster rate than ever before. It is a wonderful achievement—the facts that, thanks to technology, thanks to better living standards, thanks to medical breakthroughs, this is happening. But it brings a challenge. The Prime Minister does not even recognise dementia as an economic issue. Over 12,500 Australians signed a petition earlier this year asking the Prime Minister to put dementia on the agenda of the G20 summit in November. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, personally placed dementia on the G8 agenda, but apparently the Australian Prime Minister does not think it is worth doing. Dementia costs the world economy $6 billion annually. The Australian Prime Minister informed the petition leaders, the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, that the G20 was an economic forum and the priorities were around boosting growth and creating jobs. If his minister and assistant minister had bothered turning up to a roundtable in relation to the workforce, led by Leading Age Services Australia this week, they would have seen that dementia and aged care will have a major economic impact in Australia.

If the Prime Minister, the Treasurer or any minister of finance, trade, employment or social services had bothered to come to the launch of Blueprint for an ageing Australia, they would have seen that the ageing of our population is a social and economic asset. Maybe if they thought about the fact that ageing created opportunities, new consumer demand across the world and across the region, they would have seen addressing issues in relation to older consumers as a major export opportunity. Aged care, dementia care and ageing issues have significant social and economic impacts, but this is a short-sighted, backward-looking government in relation to this. Then again, it was the coalition government which fired the Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing which produced the blueprint.

On behalf of Labor, as their aged-care spokesperson, I welcome the blueprint. I congratulate Everald Compton and his team, including former Labor Deputy Prime Minister, Brian Howe, for the work they do. The blueprint should be a wake-up call for the Prime Minister whose unfair budget makes it harder for older Australians. Labor knows that senior Australians are not a burden. This government has no plans to address issues facing senior Australians beyond cutting. Labor will stand up for young Australians and senior Australians, not just— (Time expired)