Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor Party forget that in 2012 they cut $1.6 billion from the Aged Care Funding Instrument—the ACFI—on exactly the same basis. You discovered that people were rorting the system, so you contracted growth. You didn't make a cut and, because of the bipartisanship, we didn't try to play the silliness that you're playing here. There was an adjustment of $1.6 billion under you—exactly the same. We didn't call it a cut, because it was not. For clarity: we have increased the budget for aged care by $1 billion every year in government. It's an increase of over $4.7 billion from when you were on the Treasury benches. Year on year we have increased the amount of money that's come in to us.

Now you would like to characterise it, by the partisan politics that you like to play in this place, as some sort of cut, but it is not. You haven't convinced us, you haven't convinced the Australian people and you certainly haven't convinced the aged-care sector. In fact, I think when Shayne Neumann was asked on AM radio, he said, 'Labor's not actually in a position to reverse those cuts.' The Department of Health, in the 2016 supplementary budget measures—Senator Polley, you should recall this because you asked questions about the so-called $2 billion saved. The department said: 'The effect of these measures was not to cut the aged-care budget but increase it significantly it over forward estimates. It is a reduction in growth. That's the best way of describing it.' It's not as if you haven't asked the question and been given a comprehensive answer in the past. (Time expired)