Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. I refer to his previous answer. Can the minister confirm that funding for residential and home care has been combined into a single line item in the budget? Given that this single line item does not show anything close to the increase of $1.6 billion for aged care that the government has claimed, isn't the minister perpetuating a cruel hoax on older Australians?

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. It's great to talk about the needs of older Australians. It is important that we talk about the way in which governments provide services, and it's important that we use the resources effectively to provide choice within the mix of the total budget that we allocate. Our allocation of budget goes to very critical programs. In response to your question, we pay in residential care for beds occupied. We provide opportunities for home care packages that allow people to have choices to live at home. When you combine the efforts of the government, we are at least providing real choice that allows Australians to either live at home or make the choice to live in residential care.

In doing that, what we considered was the forward years in terms of the number of places required in both. The number of residential beds required will continue to increase substantially. The number of home care packages will also increase in those out years. Our commitment is to make sure that across this nation, regionally and in capital cities, we give absolute choices to people. I want to identify resources that are best placed to give people that choice of home care or residential care. In our budget we have given attention to the needs of people with high-need places so that we give them the level of support, and we continually wrap around other supports out of the programs that we have within the aged-care portfolio. Because it makes no sense—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you don't understand the term 'wrap around', Member for Lilley, it means that we provide services that will help people who have a need. If you don't understand that, you need to come and see me and I will explain it to you very, very simply. You didn't understand it when you were Treasurer. Had you done that, we wouldn't have the challenges for senior Australians that we have now.

But I'm not going to blame Labor, because we are taking steps to make sure that we put into place measured initiatives that will look after senior Australians. In those commitments to that $5 billion budget, if you look through each of the initiatives—that $1.6 million—it is about providing a range of services, a range of choice, and giving them comfort, knowing that we have a government who is prepared to look after them, provide them with a range of services and meet their needs, unlike the scaremongering you're doing, Member for Franklin.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the Manager of Opposition Business seeking leave?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

ust quickly, Mr Speaker. In his answer the minister referred specifically to page 193 of the portfolio budget statement as a $5 billion investment. I seek leave to table the relevant page, which is the table of contents on digital health.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business knows my previous rulings on parliamentary papers that are available. I'm not going to even allow him to seek leave.