Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a constituent of mine, Klaas Struiksma. Klaas tragically passed away recently. His wife, Marilyn, spent her time caring for Klaas, going in to see him day in, day out. Marilyn was a full-time carer and worked closely with his care team at his aged-care home. Mr Struiksma died while in aged care. Marilyn sent his story to me because she wants his story on the parliamentary record as an example. We must treat our old people and those in aged care better.

The aged-care system, so long neglected, was broken under the previous government. COVID showed us how vulnerable our aged-care system is, and this Labor government will do everything it can to fix it. If a doctor or registered nurse had been on site the day Klaas felt ill, he might still be with us today. This is what makes the reforms to aged care so important. We're talking about lives; we're talking about families; we're talking about the old people who built this nation.

Marilyn, nothing I'm going to say here is going to bring your husband back, but the Albanese government hears your story and will make sure that his story is not forgotten and the aged-care system gets the attention that it deserves.