Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in this House, once again, to condemn the Morrison government's attitude towards Australia's aged-care system. Right now aged-care industry bodies, staffed residents and their families are calling out to the government for assistance. By and large, these calls have been ignored. Every day my office is contacted by people in our community expressing their concerns and fears for the current state of aged care. Staff are calling the office, exhausted. As COVID ripped through aged-care communities, getting staff to replace those off sick or isolating has become increasingly difficult and it has led to many homes being understaffed.

Some staff have had trouble taking their shifts because the local childcare centres have had to close because of positive cases and staff did not have access to alternative child care. This is yet another problem that the Morrison government has failed to address. Some staff have children who either have had to isolate or have tested positive. The local secondary schools have already had a number of positive cases reported. It is a bleak time for these staff, who care deeply about their jobs and want to provide the best care possible. They have not been provided with the basic support that they need and deserve in order to fulfil their roles.

It has been an extremely difficult time for aged-care residents as well. Aged-care residents have suffered more than any other group throughout this pandemic. Not only does this situation make them one of the most at-risk groups for serious illness due to COVID but also so many have spent much of this pandemic isolated from family, friends and the support networks that they need and deserve. As aged-care homes are forced to lock down in response to COVID infections many residents lose the capacity to communicate and interact with their family and their support networks, making the staffing crisis experienced in their homes and the anxiety associated with COVID even more difficult to cope with.

More than two years into this pandemic this situation in aged care is just as dire as it has ever been. Across the country we hear reports of understaffed aged-care homes, residents' buzzes being left unattended and residents being scared and alone. The use of the military to provide additional support in the aged-care sector is a sign of how desperate this situation is, yet the minister for aged care refuses to acknowledge that a crisis exists. It's almost like Fonzie when he couldn't say 'wrong'. You can't get the Prime Minister or the aged-care minister to admit that we have a crisis in aged care. The first step to fixing any problem is acknowledging that there is one, yet the Morrison government is too concerned with saving face to acknowledge the work that needs to be done to address the appalling state of aged care in this country.

Lack of care for older Australians and Australian aged-care residents is endemic to the Morrison government. We have seen time and time again throughout this pandemic the sheer disregard for the lives and wellbeing of aged-care residents, the botched vaccine rollout for aged-care residents and staff, and the ongoing lack of support for those in the aged-care sector. It is a clear message that the Morrison government doesn't give a damn.

Older Australians built this country. They worked hard, paid their taxes and raised their families. They are the people who we owe for a lot of things that make our country what it is today with freedom and opportunity. These people and their families who have worked to contribute to this country throughout their lives deserve so much better than this chaotic, unsafe system that is the result of eight years of Liberal-National government neglect. The government have ignored their needs. Let there be no mistake: the aged-care system is broken.

Aged care is an issue that impacts all of us. Australians and their families deserve compassion, safety and adequate care as they move through their final stages of life. We know from the beginning of this pandemic that aged-care homes are vulnerable. The Morrison government had two years to plan for this situation we find ourselves in now, but, like so many things with this Prime Minister, it's too little too late.

Older Australians deserve respect, compassion and care. Once again this government is failing to provide for them. It has never been more clear that an Albanese Labor government is what this country needs and what Australians need, especially older Australians who helped build this country and the staff who can't even get the basics of PPE and RATs to work in this situation. Every single day they have to face the issues in aged care. I have seen this firsthand. I stood in a room with 20 different bags that contained the leftover possessions of people who died. Do you know what? The lazy minister couldn't even bother ringing them back. This government is a disgrace with the way it treats older Australians. It is a disgrace the way they have treated aged-care workers as just a tool to play with. They should hang their heads in shame. Colbeck, if you have any morals, you'd resign now.