Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This government has left vulnerable older Australians at risk and exposed to a deadly virus. But first, because we are talking about real people here, not numbers in daily reports, let me acknowledge the sad news that we're hearing out of Victoria about the significant number of deaths in aged-care facilities. Our thoughts must be with every single person who has lost a loved one during this pandemic, particularly those families who have loved ones in aged-care facilities, some who are deeply worried and not getting news in a timely manner the way that they should. And we know that it's been an incredibly difficult few weeks for some of those families and their loved ones in some of these aged-care facilities, particularly in Victoria. These are some of the most vulnerable Australians, and they deserve a government with a plan to keep them safe.

We know that the warning bells were ringing in March but nobody in the government was listening. We know that 335 residents have passed away and there are more than 1,300 active cases, and yet the minister and the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, continue—and we heard it again just a moment ago in the contribution from the senator opposite—to pass the buck and the blame. It has been a disgraceful exercise to witness.

The Morrison government is in charge of aged care. The Morrison government regulates aged care. It funds aged care. The Morrison government has the legislation that determines the quality of aged care that older Australians get. If things are not working, if systems are not working, the Morrison government is ultimately responsible for this. The buck stops with Scott Morrison and with this minister, this man who does not seem to have any kind of real grasp of what his job actually is.

We saw just last Friday that Minister Colbeck couldn't even answer basic questions when questioned at the Select Committee on COVID-19 inquiry into the Australian government's response to the pandemic. The Australian public was genuinely stunned that he was not across the most basic and tragic facts. And his performance in this place today has done absolutely nothing to give Australians confidence that he knows what his job is or that he has the capacity to lead and to assert the right that these Australians have to quality care, to protection from infection from a deadly pandemic, to communication with their families and loved ones, and to be cared for by a workforce that is adequately trained, has secure work, is adequately paid and goes to work each day in conditions that are safe.

It's time for Scott Morrison and his Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians to be honest. They knew aged-care facilities would struggle to find staff during a coronavirus outbreak, but they did nothing. They knew about the potential for a withdrawal of staff at an aged-care home because of coronavirus, but they did not do enough to prepare for this. Scott Morrison said on 29 July that the events that have tragically occurred in Victorian aged-care homes could not have been anticipated or foreshadowed, but his government was repeatedly warned that they could happen. It happened at Earle Haven over a year ago. It happened at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House months ago. We stand in this chamber today with still no answer to the question: why did Scott Morrison and his minister not have—