Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Morrison is playing the Australian public for mugs. After his Damascene conversion, he suddenly pretends that aged care is his top priority when he is actually responsible for the cuts that have gutted the aged-care sector. This current Prime Minister's top priority is all about keeping his job, while the muppet show curtain collapses around him.

Our aged care sector is in crisis. Every Australian with an older family member knows that aged care in this country is not currently at the standard that we expect. The problem the recently converted Prime Minister has is that it was his acts as Treasurer, his budget, that inflicted massive cuts on this sector. The Prime Minister caused the crisis that we are now currently in. The budget papers from when he was Treasurer are crystal clear. Page 101 of Budget Paper No. 2 states:

The Government will achieve efficiencies of $1.2 billion over four years …

Guess what? He needs to take responsibility for those cuts and the crisis he's created.

When you cut billions out of a sector, standards suffer—people suffer. Older Australians are suffering because of the cuts made by Prime Minister Morrison. This is a critical policy area and this rabble should stop fighting amongst themselves and start governing for the good of all Australians, especially our senior Australians, who have done so much for this nation.