Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill No. 2. I appreciate where Senator Smith is coming from. I share Senator Smith's absolute admiration for our aged-care workforce and her heartfelt sympathy with the families of aged-care residents who have been mistreated and for the gaps that have been created over time. But I do not accept the premise that it was the former coalition government's fault. I also don't accept the premise that the former coalition government failed in aged care nor, as Senator Smith declared, that we treated aged care as a political football. Indeed, it was the former coalition government that initiated the royal commission, which then made 142 recommendations. The former coalition government diligently reviewed those and prepared a response, including accepting 135 of the recommendations wholly or in part. Of those, 126 were accepted in principle, 12 were subject to further consideration or were noted, and four were noted as supporting an alternative approach. Only six recommendations were not accepted. It was also the former coalition government that worked hard to ensure that the budget for aged care was extended and extra funds were provided, and it was the former coalition government that basically drafted this legislation that we are presented with today.

Certainly, declaring that it was our government that treated aged care as a political football completely ignores the fact that Mr Albanese was happy to let aged-care providers and older Australians remain in a state of complete uncertainty—a state of limbo—for six months, just so he could play political games, delaying the implementation of many of the important recommendations of the royal commission, which are contained in this bill that we are debating today. Now that he's in government, Mr Albanese has realised that these reforms need to be pursued, and now he's trying to push them through, when they could have been passed in April. By playing politics with older Australians for six months and by not facilitating the passage of this bill in the last parliament, Mr Albanese delayed significant and time-critical legislation purely for political gain—purely so that we can stand here today and listen to Senator Polley say that former minister Senator Colbeck was an abject failure and hear Senator Smith say that our former coalition government treated aged care as a political football, completely denying all of the steps that the former coalition government actually took to address aged-care issues, even prior to the final royal commission report.

Let's not ignore the fact that in 2012-13, under the previous Labor government, there were only just over 60,000 home-care packages available in the aged-care sector. By the time of the last election, this had increased to 275,597 home-care packages. We all know that many of our older people would much rather stay at home than go to a residential facility. If we can keep them at home, enable them to keep their dignity and make sure they are looked after, they tend to have a much more positive experience. We also made sure, in February, that we recognised the significant contribution our aged-care workforce had made, particularly during the COVID pandemic. In February, we announced a workforce bonus of up to $800 for all eligible aged-care workers, and it was estimated that about 265,000 workers benefited from that.

Our government certainly did not treat aged care as a political football. Our government was absolutely committed to delivering on the royal commission recommendations. This legislation we are debating today forms the second step of what we had developed, which was a five-year implementation plan, underpinned by five pillars: the home-care packages that I've just discussed; residential aged-care services and sustainability; looking to improve and simplify residential aged-care services; and access. That is essentially what this bill helps to deliver on today. Then we also wanted to look at residential aged-care quality and safety—and I will be looking with interest at what the new government does in those areas—as well as supporting the workforce and growing a better skilled-care workforce. Because for all of what Senator Marielle Smith said before about supporting the workforce, needing to recognise their contribution, and needing to give them better pay and conditions, that's not in today's bill, so we shouldn't pretend that we are delivering those outcomes.

We also need stronger governance in the aged-care sector, some of which is in this bill and some of which needs further work. I hope that the new government will work with the opposition to ensure that aged care is not treated as a partisan football, as it was in the past when we saw the six-month delay by Mr Albanese in opposition. But now he's in government we will not stand in the way of this bill, because we're not going to play those same games. We're not going to turn it back into a partisan football.

This legislation is basically just a revised version of our legislation that we introduced nearly six months ago. There are really only two key changes from the original version of the bill that we introduced: one is the removal of the aged-care workers' screening regulation, and the other is the removal of the enshrining of the star-rating system in legislation. The clause about the workers' screening regulations sought to establish a nationally consistent pre-employment screening for aged-care workers. Now, that pre-employment screening was not—as has been claimed—a punishment. It was actually about protecting aged-care residents, providing consistency and establishing a good baseline. It was an important arrangement in response to recommendation 77 of the royal commission, and it prevented unsuitable workers from entering or remaining in the aged-care sector. We in opposition will be keeping a very close eye on what further reforms come forward about this key recommendation to prevent poor conduct in the sector and protect residents. We will be watching very closely to see what is brought forward, because it's our view that, by removing the workers' screening regulations, the government has basically acquiesced to the unions. They've capitulated to the unions. We would call on the government and say: stand up to the unions. Implement good policies that protect both the residents and the workforce, and allow a nationally consistent database to be established for all care workers. It gives our residents in aged-care communities—those that we care for in their twilight years—certainty that they are being looked after by the best.

While I have the call, I want to express my dismay that the government has ceased the availability of free rapid antigen tests for aged-care homes during COVID. The timing is absolutely remarkable. When the COVID pandemic first hit we saw significant outbreaks in aged-care facilities—and, unfortunately, we saw some untimely deaths in those facilities. However, when we look at the numbers of what's going on now that we're not in the peak of COVID hysteria, now that COVID has almost become endemic and people are treating it as part of their day-to-day lives, we see the number of deaths linked to COVID in aged-care facilities are higher than they were during the first and second waves. In fact, according to the Australian government website on the Department of Health and Aged Care, my calculations are that there have been 883 deaths in aged-care facilities between May—just prior to the election—and 22 July. That's 883. Yet free rapid antigen testing has been ceased.

There are currently over 1,000 active outbreaks of COVID in aged-care facilities across the nation. That is a higher number than ever was seen in the first and second waves. From this opposition, they absolutely tried to crucify the coalition government of the time for perceived failures in rolling out personal protective equipment, in rolling out vaccinations, in rolling out rapid antigen tests. Yet it is now in government that they see fit to cancel rapid antigen tests for aged-care facilities, right when deaths are higher than they've ever been, right when active cases in aged-care facilities are higher than they've ever been. So where is the consistency with what the government said in opposition and what they are implementing in government? It beggars belief.

Ultimately, the opposition will not play games with this legislation. We will be supporting it for the health and the safety and the wellbeing of our older Australians. We will not delay the time-critical legislation just to play games, as was done by the opposition. And we implore the Albanese government to continue our generational reform of the aged-care system for the benefit of all residents. I commend this bill to the House.