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

Honestly, it demonstrates a bereft vision in this sector.

This government also promised to develop an Aged Care Workforce strategy, which the sector, the workers and the community are still waiting to see. Once again, it is null and void—no action. This is Dementia Awareness Month—a very serious topic and one that we need to talk to the community about so they understand that people live with dementia. It is an issue that we need to give more airplay to. At the forum held by the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia today, a gentleman talked about how he is living with dementia. One of the very good things that he said today was that his diagnosis was caught early. That is fantastic; it means that the message is starting to get through to the community. They also talked about early onset dementia. We know it was this government that cut $20 million from the Dementia and Aged Care Services fund for innovative aged care services, including dementia care and risk reduction. It has also abandoned the Younger Onset Dementia Key Worker program.

It is time for the Abbott government to take some leadership, to show some compassion and to take aged care seriously. We know that Mr Abbott does not give this issue the same profile as we did when we were in government—we actually had a cabinet minister responsible for ageing in this country. That is the weight the Labor Party puts to a policy that is so essential and that affects every older Australian. We cannot overestimate the value of having a minister in the cabinet to voice their concerns and to have a strong voice at the table when they are setting out the budget. Quite clearly, this minister and the assistant minister are not up to their jobs. That is really disappointing because so much has already gone into building this framework. I do not know why I am surprised that they have failed the Australian people on aged care—they have broken all their other promises—but all the hard work had been done. The consultation had been done; the sector was there willing and able to implement the Living Longer Living Better strategy. It had been agreed; it had cross-party support. But the government has failed in administering and rolling out these changes. It has all become too hard for the government and so it has slowed things down. We have also seen further cuts—$20 million has been cut from the Dementia and Aged Care Services fund.

You put money into research, and that is admirable. I salute you for investing in dementia research. Of course, we have to do research—we have to find a way of preventing dementia in the first place. Those people currently living with dementia deserve respect and they deserve a government that will prioritise the investment into their care so they can continue to live in their communities. We should be doing more to ensure that we have dementia friendly communities. We should take a leaf out of the book of Scotland or the UK or Japan: they are establishing friendly communities and dementia friendly programs to ensure there is a good profile for dementia in the community. Dementia does destroy people's lives; early onset dementia in particular can be very difficult for families. It is critical that we do everything we can to ensure that people living with dementia and their families have the support in the community that they need.

It is fair to say that the Australian government under Tony Abbott has failed the Australian community when it comes to aged care. It has failed the fairness test in so many areas that I could mention. We talk about health cuts and education cuts, but, when it cuts money for those people with the severe behavioural issues associated with dementia, that is fundamentally unAustralian. It really is unAustralian to keep attacking the most vulnerable in this country. They should be able to expect more from their government, and it should not matter what colour that government is—whether it is a conservative government, and this is a very conservative government, or whether it is a Labor government. It is really the responsibility of government to deliver the respect and the care to those most in need.

Senator McKenzie interjecting—

The interjections from the doormats down the other end who are leaving rural and regional communities trailing behind when it comes to dementia. They are supposed to be the party that speaks up for rural and regional Australia, but on so many issues they fail that test. What we did for older Australians when we were in government and the plans we put forward, Senator Ronaldson, you will never ever be able to match because your government fails the test when it comes to leadership and your government has failed the test of fairness every single day for two very long years. I remember giving speeches about the eleven long years of the Howard government. I can tell those people who are going to read this or who are listening, this government's past two years of government have been two of the worst years in this country's history. That is how it will be recorded because this government has attacked the most vulnerable in this community in a whole range of areas—if you look at pensioners, if you look at health and if you look at education where they are trying to stop young Australians going to university unless their parents have a big credit card. That is not the sort government that this country deserves; that is the government that the Australian community has lost faith in. The Australian community has lost trust in Tony Abbott and his government. It is not just us on this side of the chamber saying this, it is a reflection of what all the polling is saying. But, more importantly, it is what people say to us one-on-one in every corner of the community that we go to—whether it is when I am visiting disability services, whether it is when I am visiting aged care homes or whether it is when I am visiting people through home care support, whether it is when I am going to a school or whether it is when I am down doing my grocery shopping. I hear the same thing every single time people talk to me. They say: 'Bring on the election. We have to get rid of this Abbott government because it is bad.' It is not just Tony Abbott—it is Morrison, it is Bishop and it is every one of them because ideologically they are all tainted with the same brush.