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

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. How will the aged-care reforms in the budget restore dignity for older people accessing aged-care services?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for McEwen for his question and acknowledge his work to improve aged care in his electorate, particularly working with visits to the Calvary centre and the issues that they face with respect to workforce.

After nine years of neglect, finally this nation has a budget that respects the work of older Australians and puts them first. It is a proud week for all of us on this side of the chamber that Labor has delivered a budget that puts $3.9 billion into aged-care funding. Today we passed legislation, the second aged-care reform piece of legislation in this parliament, that will deliver on our election commitments that we made to the Australian people: around-the-clock nursing care and more time for care in homes.

This budget implements 22 aged-care election commitments and 23 recommendations of the royal commission, which means that now, in just five months in office, this side of the House has delivered 37 recommendations of the royal commission—37 recommendations in five months, compared with nine recommendations in 17 months from those opposite, a truly dreadful record that you should be dreadfully ashamed of. It is about time that we act on aged care, because for almost a decade the former government disrespected aged-care recipients with budget cuts and decimated a workforce, particularly in regional and remote areas—and Lord knows we cannot progress without our aged-care workers.

I note that we've still got the Fitzroy Community School students with us here in the House this afternoon. If, for some unfathomable reason, question time has turned you off the idea of elected representative life, may I encourage you to consider a career in aged care, because we need you.

In parliament this week, we have welcomed seven proud ANMF nurses, to visit many people on this side of the House and many people on that side of the House, and two UWU aged-care workers as well. They have been meeting with parliamentarians to tell us what it is like in aged care. I know that people here would want me to acknowledge Glen, Stephanie, Sharon, Stuart, Alison, Rachel and Juliane, who came to tell us, and the frontline workers who are watching on and really hoping that we act as swiftly as we have so far. We want to say: 'Thank you for all those shifts that you did in PPE. Thank you for all those times that you came in on your day off because there was no-one else to do it. Thank you for all those times that you stopped and held a hand and checked in and cared, even though you had 67 other things that you needed to be doing. We see you and we thank you and we recognise you, and today we made laws in this place that value your work.' So did this budget, and we will continue to do that for many budgets to come.