Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

It is quite interesting that my colleague from the other side talks about being offended by contributions from this side of the chamber. Today, I was offended, as would be every older Australian in this country. What a shocking, shameful performance by the minister responsible here for aged care. He could not even fulfil his time allocation to answer a question and talk about what his government plans for older Australians.

We on this side of the chamber know what they have planned. They will not deliver the $1.1 billion to support those working in aged-care facilities. The question is: will that money go into general revenue or will they put that straight to providers of aged care? We know that this government—the Abbott government—puts no value at all on older Australians or on having an aged-care minister.

I can understand why the government do not have a minister for aged care. When Abbott was part of the Howard government, when they were last in government, they did nothing for aged care. They would not take the necessary steps to ensure, after 11½ years, that we had this country on a solid footing with respect to aged care. They did not show the respect that older Australians—those who have committed and contributed to this country over a long period of time—deserve.

Do not be mistaken—when it comes to who is the best friend of older Australians and those on the aged-care pension, people in the community know that it is the Labor government. We were the ones who delivered for the aged-care community in this country. Let's look at what not having an aged-care minister is going to mean. It will probably ensure that we do not go back to kerosene baths, but it will also mean that we have no-one in the ministry or cabinet fighting for older Australians. That is what it means. We, on this side of the chamber, know the issues that are confronting the aged-care sector in this country. We know that the average aged-care worker is about five years away from retirement.

I took the opportunity to walk in the shoes of an aged-care worker. I can tell you that the people who work in that sector deserve to be remunerated to a standard—