Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Having waited so many years for this policy paper that was going to reveal the ALP’s intentions on aged care, we have absolutely nothing. In fact, Senator McLucas’s paper does not contain one single new policy commitment, no firm indication of what Labor wants to do differently from the Howard government when it comes to caring for our elderly and our frail. In fact, what I did find upon examining Senator McLucas’s paper was a repetition of some policy suggestions that clearly reflect what the Howard government is already doing. Let me just go through a few examples. In terms of dementia, Senator McLucas suggests that the government should invest in dementia research and caring for those people with that condition. What Senator McLucas should do is go back to the 2005 federal budget, which allocated more than $320 million over five years to dementia research.