Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support this disallowance motion. Funding for the residential aged-care sector continues to grow over the forward estimates. The government increased estimated expenditure on residential care by $3.8 billion over the forward estimates in light of higher than expected funding claims. As a responsible fiscal manager, the government announced measures at MYEFO 2015, and in the recent budget, to mitigate, in part, the impact of this growth. Even after these measures, funding for residential care will continue to grow at around five per cent per annum on average over the forward estimates.

This disallowance motion would disallow the MYEFO measures, which took effect on 1 July 2016 and are estimated to save around $800 million over the forward estimates. This would not be responsible fiscal management. Sustainable and stable funding arrangements are in the interests of both government and the sector. The government has announced it is considering longer term reform options to ACFI to ensure sustainable and more stable funding arrangements going forward, and it will consult with the sector in undertaking this work. The department has commissioned the University of Wollongong to assist with this work.