Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will add my voice to that of Senator Canavan's, in stating how serious this issue is taken by the government. The welfare of older Australians is of utmost importance to this government, and the characterisations by those opposite of the minister's response are—and I'll put this mildly rather than strongly—grossly unfair. I have spoken to Minister Colbeck about this issue, and I know he cares very deeply about it. Those opposite need to be very careful that they don't seek to politicise this issue in this way. They know that the sanctions imposed on the facilities concerned were not the cause of the evacuation. It followed a contractual dispute, and Senator Watt, in particular, knows this, because, in paying tribute to everyone involved, he stated, as recorded in Hansard:

I'm sure that when those people turned up to work that day they weren't expecting that they were going to be part of some mass evacuation exercise.

And that's true. If staff on the absolute front line of this very sad situation weren't expecting it, how would anyone else have been?

Senator Watt interjecting—

The sanctions, as you very well know, Senator Watt, were not related. This government and this minister have taken swift action. This minister has instituted an independent inquiry, which will look at everyone, including the department, to learn what we can about how we can operate better into the future—and, obviously, the aged care royal commission will also be a very important part of informing where policy in this area goes.

This is a government with a very, very strong track record in supporting older Australians, particularly older Australians in aged care. The Morrison government is increasing funding in aged care by $7 billion over the period 2017-18 to 2022-23. That will deliver more home care places, keeping people in their own homes for as long as possible. It's about continuing to develop a skilled workforce so that those who are looking after our older Australians have the skills that they need to do so in a safe, effective and efficient manner. We also are looking at improving the systems to provide safe and quality home care and residential care. This is an ongoing process. There was the More Choices for a Longer Life Package in the 2018-19 budget and More Choices for a Longer Life in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

In 2013, when Labor was last in office, funding for aged care was just over $13 billion. In the next financial year it will be around $21.7 billion, and that will grow to over $25 billion by 2023. According to reporting in the Sydney Morning HeraldI don't know how much credence we should place on that—in Labor's election costings there was no additional funding for residential aged care or home care places. So we have a situation where we have a government that is responding to the needs in the sector. We understand that older Australians are vitally concerned about their future, how long they can live within their own homes and what they're going to do after that is no longer possible.

The 2019-20 budget allows 10,000 additional home care packages to be released across all levels. That's at a cost of $282 million to the budget. This was announced in February of this year, and it recognises the increasing demand for home care packages. People do want to stay in their own home as long as they possibly can. In March 2019, the government announced the largest ever expansion of residential aged care in Australia's history, with 13½ thousand new places, at a cost of around $907 million a year, plus $60 million in capital grants to grow residential aged care services. There are issues in this industry, but this is a government that's delivering.