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

This side of politics, of course, welcomes an inquiry and a royal commission into the aged care crisis that we have been saying has been going on in this country for quite some time. We have been saying it in this place. I've lost count how many times I've stood at the dispatch box talking about the aged-care crisis. This government criticised us for talking about that crisis. They said, 'Nothing to see here.' They're currently sitting on 14 reports that are on ministers' desks, with reports and recommendations on how to fix the aged-care crisis.

Whilst we welcome this royal commission, I was aghast yesterday when this Prime Minister denied that when he was Treasurer he made cuts to the aged care budget. He absolutely made that cut. It's in black and white in his first budget: $1.2 billion taken from the Aged Care Funding Instrument. That instrument is for the most complex residents that are in homes today. The Aged Care Funding Instrument is an assessment done for those with the highest needs, some of the most vulnerable people, who need the highest level of care. That's what this Prime Minister cut when he was Treasurer. That's what he did when he was Treasurer, and he should fess up to it and admit that he made a mistake in his press conference yesterday, because he did make that cut. It's in black and white in his budget papers, and any royal commission needs to examine the impact of those massive cuts to the aged-care sector. The sector is saying this; this is not just Labor saying this. The sector is saying there have been massive cuts. (Time expired)