Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me make it very clear: Labor are not undermining anything or anyone. If anything, what we are doing is keeping these guys opposite accountable—accountable to the Australian people and accountable to the Australian parliament—on why they make the decisions they do, when they make the decisions they do, especially when the Minister for Aged Care, only a month ago, didn't agree with a royal commission. However, that minister has been rolled by his own cabinet and made to agree that something that he said on national television was not necessary. Why was that? Why was it not necessary? It was because Minister Wyatt knew that this parliament conducted numerous reports over many, many years—and, in fact, so many reports in the five years of this government—in relation to the care and concern for aged people in this country. Those recommendations, which could have been implemented by this government, simply have not been implemented.

We have heard on national television, on the ABC's Four Corners report, the deeply distressing and painful stories of families in this country who have seen their loved ones treated in ways that are absolutely appalling. We've seen stories of those who work in the industry, who have tried on numerous occasions to have the system changed and who have had their concerns fall on deaf ears.

The Labor Party is asking the right questions here. It's not about undermining or disagreeing with the need for care for our most vulnerable people in this country; it is about keeping this lot transparent. Why is it that, again, they wait for a national television program, the Four Corners program, to put a story to air before immediately rushing to a royal commission? It's just like what they did with the Northern Territory youth detention centre. Out of the 226 recommendations of that royal commission, the Commonwealth has failed to fund a single one of those recommendations. And in keeping this lot accountable, we will certainly want to see what the terms of reference will be, what they mean and who will be involved with it. And, just like the Northern Territory royal commission, I will certainly want to see that there is sufficient examination of our remote, rural and regional areas, of our First Nations families in particular, in some of the most desperate and desolate places across this country.

Aged-care providers around Australia have adjusted accordingly. Next to children, our elderly, our most vulnerable, are the ones who have suffered in this country. The Prime Minister's announcement of a royal commission into aged-care quality and safety surprised everyone. As I said, it certainly surprised the minister responsible, Ken Wyatt. In the Northern Territory, while many remote care services do their best to provide care, I've seen the issues that impact on some of our elders, and they are suffering because of the neglect and terrible policies of this government. At many of the aged-care facilities in remote NT communities, there are high fences and locked gates. This is not to stop residents from wandering, but to keep out community members who humbug the elderly for food and money because they've been cut off from CDP—another failed government policy. Too many of our elders are living locked behind 10-foot fences.

Last year it was revealed that renowned artist Kathleen Ngale, who was in her 80s, was spending most of her time sleeping outside in freezing desert nights, often going hungry and sometimes unable to wash. She lived on a homeland in the Utopia region, where there was reported to be up to 15 people sleeping rough at times. They were living in total poverty, totally disempowered. These are some of the oldest living traditional owners of this country. We will most certainly keep this government accountable in all that it does here.

Question agreed to.