Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. Will the minister update the House on steps the government is taking to support aged-care providers to deliver quality aged care and support communities? Is the minister aware of any other proposals?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ms Burney interjecting—

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

Members on my left! The member for Barton!

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

I thank the member for Barker for his ongoing interest and commitment to aged care and his ongoing commitment in the way that he works with local people. The government's crackdown on quality failures since South Australia's Oakden scandal is evident. A total of 39 residential aged-care services have been issued with serious risk notices this financial year—

Mr Champion interjecting—

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

The member for Wakefield!

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

as at 30 April, up from 22 in the previous year.

Mr Champion interjecting—

Member for Wakefield, just listen carefully and you'll hear the answer.

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

The member for Wakefield will cease interjecting.

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

The bottom line is there will be no compromise on aged-care standards. To ensure quality care, the coalition government has worked with the aged-care sector to develop a new, single, quality framework which will include a single set of aged-care standards, improved quality assessment arrangements and improved information about quality for consumers, with a greater focus on outcomes. Member for Wakefield, if you'd been interested in what was happening at Oakden, you would've raised those issues much earlier. We want to support our aged-care providers to understand these new standards, and that's why we announced $50 million in the budget to support residential aged-care providers transition to the new standards.

The Turnbull government is committed to supporting aged-care small businesses, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who says to thousands of family-owned small and medium businesses across the country that, if he's elected, he wants to increase their taxes. Let's not forget that this opposition leader wants to dip into the pockets of self-funded retirees. People who've worked hard all their lives do not deserve to have their hard-earned funds ripped from their pockets. This will affect 3,534 people in Braddon. It will also affect 4,356 people in Longman. A vote for Labor is a vote for their plan to raise taxes and raid retirement incomes. Increasing taxes for small businesses and aged-care providers will mean that the opportunity to increase the number of staff in nursing homes is diminished and will not be realised. It will also reduce the potential for future innovation, investment and business expansion. The aged-care providers deliver care for our loved ones in aged care, and this opposition leader's war on small and medium businesses impacts on our aged-care sector.

Let me say, the Leader of the Opposition's decision to increase taxes on businesses with turnovers between $10 million and $50 million is an attack on small and medium businesses and the millions of Australians they employ. And he refuses to guarantee that the tax relief already legislated for small businesses with turnovers between $2 million and $10 million won't also be impacted. The impact will be across this nation, and I— (Time expired)

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

The member for Wills.

Mr Khalil interjecting—

All right, I'll be generous. The member for Wills was just stretching. The member for Sydney has the call.