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

But we did a lot more when it came to aged care than what you ever did. I would have thought that you might have learnt something through the aged-care workforce inquiry that you had been on. I thought that you might have at least got a grasp of the issues that are fronting the Australian community and the aged-care sector. But, quite clearly, once you step into this chamber you say very different things to what you do through the media and within the community in Tasmania. I am bitterly disappointed. It just demonstrates that, in this chamber and in your own caucus, the Liberal Senate team from Tasmania has no influence whatsoever over this government—none. You had given a commitment that you would fight for community health centres in Tasmania and you have delivered nothing new in preventive medicine—nothing at all.

What we have seen is a government that has denied the Australian people. As we get older, we need services and we need a commitment from a government with a plan. (Time expired)