Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians (Senator Colbeck) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today relating to COVID-19 and aged care.

In question time today, the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck, admitted that the Morrison government's cabinet was not briefed about the Victorian outbreak until 5 August. That is more than six weeks after initial cases were identified, and, on that day, there were already 1,435 COVID-positive cases linked to aged-care outbreaks. There were nearly a hundred facilities impacted. Sadly, on that day, the day the cabinet was first briefed, another 10 Australians died. I extend my condolences to everyone who has been touched by this crisis in aged care through losing loved ones, to those in hospitals, to those battling the virus, and to those who have been sick with worry and haven't been able to see their loved ones.

Let's be clear: the Morrison government have responsibility for aged care in Australia, and they have failed to protect aged-care residents from this virus. This failure hasn't happened overnight. It has been years in the making. The Morrison government have failed by not having the aged-care portfolio in the cabinet. They have failed by having review after review but then doing nothing to act on them. They have failed by not dealing with the serious and escalating workforce issues, which have been known and about which reviews have gathered dust on their desks for years and years. They have failed by cutting billions of dollars in funding over several budgets and then using weasel words to pretend they never did. Well, budget papers don't lie. The Morrison government have cut money that was meant to go to the aged-care sector. The Prime Minister, as the Treasurer, was the architect of those cuts, and those cuts have taken a fragile system and broken it. There is clearly no redundancy left.

The real-life experience in Victoria, which we have seen play out in heartbreaking scenes, is that aged-care facilities have had no capacity to deal with a virus like COVID-19 when it came into their home. We've seen images of elderly Australians being evacuated from their homes malnourished, dehydrated, missing medication, soiled, distressed and alone. So don't stand here and tell us how fortunate we have been. Don't say how well we've done. Don't try and shirk responsibility and blame others. People in aged care in Australia today don't need spin and a rewriting or a convenient interpretation of what has happened in Victoria. The facts speak for themselves.

From mid-June, when positive cases in Victoria started to rise, what did this government do to protect residents of aged care? They knew they were vulnerable. They knew from what had happened in the northern hemisphere: when community transmission rates increased, the risk for people in residential aged care increases exponentially. They already knew that. From a handful of cases in early July to 1,000 cases by the end of that month, more than 125 facilities had outbreaks, and there were more than 335 deaths and more than 2,000 cases linked to aged care. No matter which way the government tries to spin the crisis in aged care, these facts tell a story of failure—failure to protect vulnerable citizens from COVID-19 getting into their homes and then failure to stop the spread. This is the result of a system that remains hidden from public view, housing vulnerable people, the quietest of all Australians, who, after doing their best for this country, have been abandoned by a Prime Minister who is quick to point the finger at others but who clearly didn't do enough quickly enough, by a minister clearly without authority or influence and by a system that has been fractured by neglect, underfunding and the indifference of this government over seven long years.

The royal commission heard compelling evidence that the system for older Australians is 'woefully inadequate'. That is a quote from a report titled Neglect, which was given to this government in November last year. The title speaks volumes. The royal commission itself has put in writing that the system is woefully inadequate. They knew this in November. The royal commissioners go on to say:

Many people receiving aged care services have their basic human rights denied. Their dignity is not respected and their identity is ignored. It most certainly is not a full life. It is a shocking tale of neglect.

We say older Australians deserve better than this.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Older Australians most certainly do deserve better than this. What we've seen here today is an absolute disgrace and outrage. The Labor Party comes in here, speaking of cases, people's lives and families that have been devastated. To come in here and make political points off the back of those very, very sad situations and stories is an absolute disgrace. I am quite set back by this, I've got to say. There have been 335 deaths in our aged-care facilities. That's a number, but it actually represents individuals. It represents communities. Importantly, it represents families—families that, over the last few months, have had a significant amount of grief. They're dealing with that. To have Labor come in here and drag out these stories and make a political point, conflating two different versions of stories together to make a political point against a minister that has actually done a significant amount to ensure that this pandemic—I mean, it is a crisis. It is a crisis that we're dealing with, and dealing with it has been the No. 1 priority of this government. In fact, the Prime Minister has said that this is his No. 1 focus right now. The focus of this government is ensuring that we can deal with this crisis and this pandemic.

Everywhere across the world when there has been an outbreak like what we've seen in Victoria, there have always been cases in aged-care facilities. It's the ability to deal with those cases and those outbreaks, and deal with them in such a way that you minimise the impact—importantly, the impact on lives. If that side were actually serious about what's going on then they'd actually be asking questions about what we're doing and how we could actually mitigate further the risk that has been caused by the outbreak that's occurred under a Labor government down there in Victoria. The Prime Minister is absolutely committed to ensuring that we are able to deal with this, that the communities are responsible and that the families that are involved are getting the best possible support. All services with an active case of COVID-19 are receiving support from the Australian government, including a single case manager and access to PPE, testing at residential aged-care facilities and access to a surge workforce and supplementation. We heard the minister explain that in one particular facility they had to replace an entire workforce in 24 hours. An outbreak occurred that of course went through the workplace.

Right now, I want to pay tribute to those who are in the healthcare sector, particularly in aged care. My sister works in an aged-care facility and I know that she turns up to work not knowing what will happen. But she bravely fronts up to work, knowing that what is protecting her is a mask or a face shield. They are brave Australians who are doing this. Support for them is absolutely critical, and we saw that in that one facility in Victoria: an entire workforce substituted within 24 hours.

We heard before from Senator Gallagher, who spoke about so-called cuts which have been made in the aged-care sector. It's only Labor that could actually call a billion dollars worth of increases a cut. Labor's claim has actually been debunked by the ABC's Fact Check. Despite Labor's plans for $387 billion in higher taxes, there was nothing in their plan leading up to the last election that showed any sort of commitment to increasing and supporting the aged-care sector like this government has done. Nothing! They have the gall to say these things when they actually have no plan. They've not put forward anything that would suggest they have a commitment like this government has. Labor's hypocrisy is evident and obvious at this time, with this sort of nonsense that we see coming into this place.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's interim report said it was difficult not to be critical of successive governments' failures to fix the aged-care system. This government is committed to working with the sector— (Time expired)

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister Colbeck has staked out today that he's simply under political attack and that the opposition's continual questioning of him is somehow unjustified. This question time we saw more and more simple facts come out that highlight the incompetence now not only of Minister Colbeck but indeed of the entire government in failing to take account of the grievous situation confronting aged care, particularly in Victoria.

We've seen more than 350 deaths and yet we have seen nothing from this government except talking up purported relativities of how well they're doing compared to the rest of the world or other parts of the globe. The simple fact is that these deaths were preventable. They were absolutely preventable. They were preventable by this government if they had put in place proper responses to what had happened at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and at Newmarch House. Indeed, the aged-care royal commission and other incidents that happened in aged care some 12 months ago and before that all highlight how ill prepared aged care is for these pandemic-type situations.

We have a government which has not put in place the measures that would have prevented this. It's all very well for the government to blame Victoria, but the simple fact is that this situation is not occurring in all aged-care settings. It is occurring in settings where it's got in and where there has been poor control of transmission of the virus. There is a lack of PPE in some of these places and there is a lack of training in some of these places. And what I think is most telling of all is the appalling rates of pay for aged-care workers who are doing intimate care support—feeding people, putting them to bed, changing their clothes—but do not have adequate personal protective equipment. They are showering them, taking them to the toilet, managing people with dementia in all their daily intimate activities, and they do not have adequate personal protective equipment.

These are things that should have been a top priority right from the outset—in response to Dorothy Henderson Lodge, in response to Newmarch House. The simple fact—and Senator O'Sullivan should know about these issues—is that the aged-care wage, which is close to the minimum wage, means that if you currently take home JobSeeker because you're not getting enough hours and you take on some part-time hours in aged care then you could lose your eligibility for JobSeeker. So there is no incentive to work. This is another driving force behind the lack of aged-care staff in some settings. The government fiddled around with settings within our social security system without actually fixing some of the problems that confront people when it comes to disincentives to work. People are expected to work for $10 an hour, after you consider those disincentives to work.

This is an appalling state of affairs that this government has failed to take accountability for. We've heard that the minister for aged care has failed to brief the cabinet. He's briefed the Prime Minister. Well, the Prime Minister needs to take responsibility for the mess in aged care. There are hundreds of grieving families around this nation, not just those grieving for those who have died from COVID but also those who've been locked out of aged-care settings and therefore unable to be with their loved ones in their dying days. This is an appalling state of affairs, and the government must show some respect and accountability.

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by saying that the behaviour of the Labor Party in response to aged-care deaths has been tawdry, to say the least. Instead of taking the high ground in seeking to find a solution, Labor has taken the well-worn path it always takes by grandstanding on other people's misfortunes. Does Labor really think that if it had been in government it could have handled the pandemic any better? Of course not. They're not interested in finding solutions; they're only interested in point scoring.

Take the words of Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth to the royal commission:

… the assertion that there was an attitude of futility towards deaths in residential aged care in Australia is frankly insulting to the entire Australian community who locked down to prevent deaths amongst our most vulnerable.

And:

… there were many words used in the royal commission witness statements today that perhaps don't reflect the totality of the Government's response, both at federal and state level to preventing deaths in aged care.

The fact is that coronavirus is a highly contagious retrovirus with elevated case fatality rates in the elderly and those who have comorbidities. The vast majority will get the virus mildly and get over it, and some may not even realise they had it at all. The containment measures put in place by the Morrison government have been some of the best in the world and have gone a long way to reducing the prevalence of the virus and surge impacts on our hospitals—not that you would know it if you listen to Labor. Their attacks on Senator Colbeck have been, frankly, despicable. No-one has worked harder than our Prime Minister and Senator Richard Colbeck in trying to keep Australians safe.

To quote Brendan Murphy, who was our chief medical officer:

Australia's overall COVID death rate as a proportion of cases is around 1.5% (compared to 15% in the UK and 5% in the USA). Our death rate in aged care across Australia as a proportion of total aged care residents is 0.1% (1 in 1000) compared to 5% in the UK where nearly 20,000 deaths have been seen.

He also said:

… no matter how prepared and resourced the aged care sector is, this outbreak will, unfortunately, only finally come under control with the suppression of community transmission. The best way to protect older persons is to suppress community transmission.

Labor needs to remember that no-one is doing a better job of that than the coalition's Gladys Berejiklian in New South Wales, who, despite having received over 50 per cent of cases in quarantine from international arrivals, has kept a lid on community transmission. Compare that to Labor's Daniel Andrews, whose mismanagement is the root of the community transmission in Victoria. Do we hear a word out of Labor about that? Of course not—complete and utter silence.

Did Daniel Andrews consult anyone before he pulled out over 100 staff from St Basil's before provisions were made to find replacement staff? Of course not. It was left to the federal government to come along and clean up the mess left by Daniel Andrews, and I should point out to Senator Gallagher that, while we might be responsible for aged care, we're not responsible for health. If Daniel Andrews had actually consulted the federal government, we might have been able to step in and help out the aged-care centre before leaving those people in a more vulnerable state. But that's Daniel Andrews for you. He's the Frank Sinatra of Australian politics; it's always his way or the highway. He never consults with anyone. Typical Labor—all command and control and no consultation. It's, 'I'll just do it my way.'

As a Queenslander, I want to apologise to other Australians, especially those in northern New South Wales, who have not been able to get access to proper health care because of the selfish actions of the Queensland Premier, Anna Palaszczuk, in shutting down the borders. There have been young children in northern New South Wales who have not been able to access medical resources in Brisbane. I have never felt so ashamed to be a Queenslander. What kind of a person puts her own self-interests in front of the health of young Australians? It's absolutely shameful, and it's worth pointing out that the Australian government in January— (Time expired)

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sometimes I think the Senate would serve to have a few more minutes from Senator Rennick, because the longer he goes, the worse it gets. By the end of five minutes, he's back on to blaming someone else. The Morrison government's MO is blaming somebody else for what is a Morrison government responsibility—aged care. That is what we are talking about today.

Firstly, I'll begin by doing something that Senator Rennick didn't and acknowledge how awful it must be for those families who are grieving—the 328 families who have lost loved ones—to see this debate turn into a blame game from people opposite. I also want to acknowledge the essential workers who are day in, day out working in aged care. I thank them for spending the time to speak to people like me, other senators and other members of parliament to explain to us exactly what is going on. If you didn't listen to those workers directly and if you listened to those opposite, you'd think everything is fine. But when you speak to these workers directly, they will tell you that this has been coming for a long time, that things are very desperate and that they are at their absolute wits' end, because they love the jobs they do and the residents they care for. But they are not being given the appropriate resources, and they haven't been given the appropriate resources from this government for an incredibly long time.

We know that the 328 families who are grieving deserve answers from Minister Colbeck and from the Prime Minister. So Labor's not going to apologise for asking questions about the deaths of 328 Australians. That is not disgraceful or despicable. Those questions need to be asked and they need to be answered. But, when we ask these questions, the minister isn't able to answer them. He doesn't have the figures, he doesn't have the detail or he rejects the premise of the question. That is not good enough for these families.

We know that the government didn't have a plan for aged care, yet there were many warning signs and opportunities which would have alerted this minister to the very serious consequences of his inaction. We know that Peter Rozen QC revealed in the royal commission that 'neither the Commonwealth Department of Health nor the aged-care regulator developed COVID-19 plans specifically for the aged care'. The very first case of COVID-19 at Newmarch House was reported on 11 April, and the government failed to act for weeks after more than 60 cases of COVID were reported among staff and residents and 16 lives were lost—in April. In April they had the warning sign that they needed that this would be devastating if it ever infected an aged-care facility, and yet after that they still did not develop a plan. The lack of urgency is staggering.

The Morrison government is responsible for aged care, but it failed to protect aged-care residents not only when it comes to this crisis but before this crisis started. On the minister's performance today, I just say the minister and those opposite refuse to accept the premise of questions that we're asking or even that we're asking those questions in the first place. Somehow even asking those questions is too much for this minister to take. This minister says that we are very fortunate, that we are in a much better position than other countries. The minister said, 'I'd rather be in Australia than anywhere else when it comes to aged care.' Well, ask the families of these 328 people who have died in aged care. Ask these workers if they would rather be somewhere else. That is a question that this minister needs to answer. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.