Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday, I was very pleased to welcome the Minister for Aged Care to Wide Bay to meet with aged-care providers and listen to their concerns. Minister Wyatt and I met with representatives from Carramar Noosa residential care in Tewantin, Cooinda in Gympie, Gympie residential care, Castra at Murgon, Torbay Lifestyles & Care at Torquay, Zion Lutheran Retirement Village in Gympie and the Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN.

As I said in my maiden speech, the people cared for in aged care are the people who built the schools, built the roads, nursed us, taught us and handed us the lucky country we live in now, and they deserve the best standard of care in their senior years. The service delivered by aged-care providers is essential to ensure that the elderly who are not able to care for themselves live in dignity, comfort and security. We need to ensure their business models are sustainable, so they have the capacity to support people who rely on them for everything.

I thank everyone who attended the roundtable for their honest, forthright contributions. Feedback and advice is so critical to the future of the sector. Wide Bay has unbeatable aged-care professionals, but there are challenges of an ageing community in our area. I thank Minister Wyatt for his interest, and I look forward to working closely with him into the future.