Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the Senate for the chance to further outline the government's record and commitment to preventing and tackling COVID-19 in aged care and how that has evolved as we learn more about this virus. These are extraordinary times—times of great tragedy for so many and full of emotion, pain and grief. I would like to extend my condolences to the families and loved ones of the more than 360 older Australians who have lost their lives from COVID-19, each one of which is a tragedy.

We continue to work day and night as a government to safeguard the most vulnerable in our community. The care and welfare of senior Australians has been and remains the highest priority for the Australian government. I, as minister for aged care, along with the Minister for Health, the Prime Minister, the government and the national cabinet at every step of this pandemic have acted on the advice of our medical experts, including the chief medical officer, the team of deputy chief medical officers and also the various subcommittees of experts who provide advice to the government—the AHPPC, the CDNA, the ICEG and now the AHPPC Aged Care Advisory Group.

I have been working every day with the aged care sector—providers, staff and families—to ensure that these people in care, those who first cared for us, receive the highest level of protection. For this I am accountable. We've heard the stories of heartbreak as this virus has impacted on our senior Australians. I've spoken directly with scores of families. Through tears they've told me of their mums and dads: the contributions they've made to their family and their community and how they should never have spent their final hours isolated and alone. I've also been in almost daily contact with providers, facility managers and staff who have shared similar stories of distress. We have had to learn about this novel virus and continue to learn and apply those learnings to our response to new outbreaks. There have been missteps, though. During last Friday's Senate hearing I didn't have details to hand that I should have. Again, I apologise.

We know that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. There are few countries anywhere in the world where there has been coronavirus and where they have been able to avoid outbreaks in residential aged care. Where there is widespread community transmission there is a significant impact, and unfortunately—and tragically—there are deaths.

Our swift and decisive action, our frontline response, our decisions about borders, our national pandemic plan and our hospital agreements—the strength of the public health response in Australia—has seen us avoid the scale of tragedy in aged care seen in so many other countries. Our early response has ensured that so far 97 per cent of our aged-care facilities have not had a COVID-infected resident. That is a high-water mark compared to other regions in the world, like the UK, which is battling COVID-19 in 56 per cent of its facilities. It's a heartbreaking reality that in some countries they have stopped counting aged-care deaths altogether. Every death in aged care as a result of this COVID-19 pandemic is a tragedy.

We have a far from perfect aged-care system. That is why one of the first acts of the Morrison government was to call the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to address the systematic problems that have existed for decades. In my tenure as aged-care minister, significant changes were made even as the royal commission continued to undertake its work. Some of these things included: completing work on the new, independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission; implementing new consumer-focused Aged Care Quality Standards; introducing a new National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program; and implementing a new single Charter of Aged Care Rights covering 14 fundamental protections relating to safety, quality care, independence, control, fairness and choice. We have mandated requirements to reduce the use of chemical and physical restraints and improved medication management in residential care. We've invested in the implementation of a Serious Incident Response Scheme, and we've invested in dementia research. We have provided a Business Improvement Fund to assist residential aged-care facilities in financial difficulties, including prioritising those in regional, rural and remote areas, and those impacted by bushfires earlier this year.

Since the 2018-19 budget, we have invested more than $3 billion in home-care packages to support more Australians to remain living in their own homes for longer. That's an increase of more than 50,000 home-care packages and, for the first time, we've seen the national waiting list decline. We are delivering record investment in the aged-care system, from $13.3 billion under Labor to $21.4 billion this financial year and $25.4 billion in 2022-23. But more reform is needed. We will not sit idle, and the work continues.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had the undivided attention of the government from the outset. The wellbeing of our most vulnerable has been our highest priority right from the beginning. As the former Chief Medical Officer, and now the Secretary of the Department of Health, said in a statement to the royal commission:

The Australian Government has, at all times, had the protection of elderly Australians at the forefront of our approach to COVID-19 and this has dominated our planning and preparedness. Any suggestion to the contrary is strongly rejected.

We commenced our planning in January—very early in the cycle of this devastating global pandemic. We closed our borders, and we released our national response, which included the overarching plan for the management of COVID-19: the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). We published the advice of the CDNA to the sector on 13 March. This document has since been updated twice as our understanding of the virus has grown. We negotiated hospital agreements—which have proved to be so vital, Mr President, particularly in your home state of Victoria—to safeguard older Australians and to release pressure on stressed facilities and, importantly, to provide additional workforce capacity into aged-care facilities.

We negotiated and resourced surge-workforce capacity, an announcement we made on 11 March, and we continue to build on that capacity. Almost 1,000 Commonwealth-funded surge staff have been deployed into aged-care facilities just in Victoria, plus ADF and AUSMAT teams. We secured and built a substantial national stockpile of PPE, so vital in the fight against COVID-19, at a time of global shortage. We negotiated and signed a national testing contract to ensure that residents and workers in infected facilities could be tested quickly for the virus. We conduct asymptomatic testing in COVID-19 hotspots throughout Victoria. We developed nine training modules, including infection control and PPE use, and made those freely available to the sector. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner has conducted cycles of preparedness testing for the sector, and that work continues.

Through the AHPPC and national cabinet, we've provided advice on visitation and worked closely with the sector to develop a very successful code of conduct for visitation. We put in place communication systems to assist facilities that weren't able to maintain contact with family and loved ones so that they understood what was happening with their family members. We commissioned investigations and acted quickly on the learnings of Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch. In Victoria, as the scale of the outbreak grew, we established the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, which brought together the decision-making of both the state and the Commonwealth and played a significant role in managing an extremely difficult situation that has developed in Victoria. That structure has now been endorsed by national cabinet for application, if required, in other states and territories.

We meet every day—sometimes twice a day—to ensure that every resource required is directed to the effort. We have placed no limits on those resources, with over $1 billion committed to our COVID-19 response to aged care to date.

Senator Watt interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Watt!

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've met at least weekly—sometimes more—with the sector through the pandemic and continue to do so to address any matter that they may raise. I've met with families in groups large and small via videoconference and on an individual basis. I have been there and we have been there every step of the way every day. We have not stopped planning, adapting and implementing.

I sat a couple of weeks ago with a friend I hadn't seen for 30 years. She came to talk to me about the death of her mother four years ago and her concerns about the loss of dignity her mum felt in a residential aged-care facility. I sat with her while she cried, because she hadn't been able to address that issue for four years. She came into my office. We sat, we talked and we worked our way through what could be done and what will be done, and I tried to help her with her pain. It's those sorts of stories and those that we heard from the royal commission that drive me and that drive the government to improve the residential aged-care sector in this country.

For us, this has never been about politics. The operation of the national cabinet demonstrates that. Labor can have their 'gotcha' moments. They can ridicule and show disrespect to our most senior medical officials on the use of language at COVID meetings.

Senator Watt interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Watt!

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It won't change the—

Opposition senators interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Colbeck, please resume your seat. Senator Watt, I appreciate this is a matter of some passion, but, when I call people to order by name, I do expect them to take a little break.

Senator Wong interjecting—

There's an opportunity to continue this, Senator Wong, but I can't hear the minister during this particular—

Senator Rennick interjecting—

Order, Senator Rennick! The minister has been asked by the Senate to attend the chamber. The Senate orders a minister to the chamber to make a statement. I'm going to insist that the chamber listen to the minister in silence, because I have no doubt there will be an opportunity for vigorous discussion afterwards.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's games will not change a thing for the Australians who need our help the most. For me, this has never been about politics. I've invited the shadow minister to the table on many occasions—at any time she has asked. I've called many Labor MPs in Victoria to give them information on outbreaks that are occurring in their electorates so that they can assist their constituents with their issues. I've worked closely with my counterpart in Victoria, cooperating on many of the issues in the interests of senior Australians in Victoria and their loved ones, and I acknowledge and thank him for his cooperation.

Responding to this cruel virus and its impact on communities remains my focus. Again, my sincerest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. We are all ultimately responsible for the decisions made to protect the people we love the most. That is my focus—to deliver the plan and to keep senior Australians safe. I thank the Senate.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the statement.

Maybe you should stay and listen to what the Senate has to say, Minister Colbeck. As of yesterday there were 353 Australians in residential aged care who had died from COVID-19, and today it's more than 360. It is a disgrace that this minister leaves the chamber when the parliament is taking note of his statement. I hope all Australian see how he just turned his back on his accountability and responsibility in this parliament and did not have the honour and principle to stay and listen.

There were 353 dead as of yesterday, 360 dead as of today and more than 1,100 active cases. These numbers tell a tragic story. They are not just numbers. Behind each of these is a story of heartache, grief and trauma experienced by the families, children, grandchildren, siblings and friends of each and every one of these older Australians who has died. Now, it is true: we are in the grips of a global pandemic. And there are some who would suggest, like the government, these deaths are unavoidable. But we would be betraying our duty if we blindly accepted that argument. We would be blindly betraying our duty to the more than 360 Australians who have died and their loved ones, we would be betraying our duty to the 200,000 Australians in aged care and we would be betraying our duty to those who put themselves at risk every day to care for them. You see, this was avoidable. It was foreseeable and it was anticipated. Senator Colbeck said today that this has been the government's highest priority. That is demonstrably untrue. You see, Senator Colbeck was warned. He knew aged care was in crisis before COVID hit. Just as they had been warned before the bushfires last summer, this Morrison government has had warning after warning after warning on aged care.

There was the interim report of the royal commission, entitled Neglect; the warnings from experts and from unions representing workers in aged-care homes; the tragic events at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House earlier this year; the warnings from his own backbenchers; and the lessons from his own government's report in March and in June. So, just as in the bushfires, the failure to act on these warnings—that minister's failure, this government's failure—has left devastating consequences for Australians. Instead of acting on these warnings, Senator Colbeck comes into this place and denies the premise of almost every question. He comes into this place and he claims to have done his job by holding a webinar and doing some mail-outs. Worse still, he comes into this place and talks about the Morrison government's performance as a high watermark—a high-water mark! What that demonstrates is how profoundly amoral, how profoundly dishonourable the heart of this government is, and what it reveals is this government's continued preference for self-congratulation over action under Scott Morrison. It's the arrogance and hubris that the counsel assisting the royal commission spoke of. It is dishonourable and it is unprincipled. This minister abdicates responsibility, and the cost of his failure is borne by hundreds of grieving Australian families who are still trying to come to terms with immeasurable tragedy.

But there is one notable action this government has taken in relation to aged care and that is to defund it. As Treasurer, Mr Morrison cut almost $2 billion from the aged-care budget, and the results of that action, the consequences, are being seen today. In fact, it was one of their own, Mr Broadbent, who said it was a disaster waiting to happen. He went on to say his warnings, too, were 'ignored completely'. Tragically, all the other warnings that the Morrison government has received were also ignored completely. The royal commission heard this:

… in the crucial months between the Newmarch House outbreak in April and mid-June a degree of self-congratulation and even hubris was displayed by the Commonwealth Government.

The government was too business with boasting, too busy making announcements—just as Mr Morrison still is this week—to actually care that their job was not done.

It's obvious that they sat on the reports, because those reports made clear the consequences of government action, or failure to act, and made clear the consequences of the government's actions to cut nearly $2 billion from aged care. Every day this week, before and after his disastrous committee performance, Australians have seen the horrifying death toll climb, and that is a consequence of budget cuts. It is a consequence of ignored warnings, and it is a consequence of incompetence by this government and, specifically, this minister.

All of us have heard harrowing stories of severe neglect. Brendan from Victoria, whom we spoke about yesterday, said his 94-year-old mother, removed from her room after testing positive for COVID-19, was found not to have been showered for four days due to staffing shortages. Elizabeth, also from Victoria, said hospital doctors found her mother also had a secondary chest infection and a UTI, in addition to COVID, and she had been left in soiled nappies for hours—on many occasions, for the whole day.

These are the people we are supposed to be representing in this place today. These are the people who need a voice. This minister seeks today to dismiss this debate as political. Well, I have a human question of my fellow senators, a question for all of you: would any of you want your loved ones to be in Senator Colbeck's care? When we look at Senator Colbeck's performance in the Senate, when we look at his performance in the Senate select committee, when we look at his performance as a minister, that is the question. Would you trust your parents, your grandparents, your aunts or uncles, your brothers or sisters, your wives or husbands to Senator Colbeck's care? If not, why would you expect other Australians to trust their loved ones to his care? Why would you accept a Prime Minister forcing Australians to put their elderly loved ones into Senator Colbeck's care? It is that's simple. If you wouldn't want him to be in charge of the care of your loved one, why do you expect others to want that?

We know this Prime Minister. Although he is too stubborn to sack Senator Colbeck, he knows he can't fix this mess. We know that because just this week the Prime Minister cut Senator Colbeck out of the emergency response decision-making. Consider that for a minute. Mr Morrison has so little confidence in this minister that he's taken him out of the decision-making process. So I say to this government: if even Mr Morrison knows that Senator Richard Colbeck isn't up to the job, why should any of us expect Australians to believe that he is? The fact is that Senator Richard Colbeck has lost the confidence of the parliament, he has lost the confidence of the public, and he has to go.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week—today, even—we have heard the aged-care minister, Senator Richard Colbeck, gloating about how 97 per cent of facilities in this country haven't had a COVID outbreak. Every time I hear the government gloat about their performance, I think of the pain that must be inflicted upon the family members of those who have died in residential aged care of COVID-19—the daughter who lost a father, the son who lost a mother, the grandchildren asking what happened to nan and pop? The idea that the government got it right, that they have a high-water mark 97 per cent of the time, would be cold comfort to those 353 families who have lost a loved one in residential aged care to coronavirus and to those over 1,100 families who right now have a family member with an active coronavirus case in residential aged care. Each one of those numbers is a real person. Each one of those people is loved.

I want to share a story. Donna from Clifton Springs, near Geelong in Victoria, shared her pain. She lost her father, Patrick, to COVID-19 on Monday a week ago. He caught COVID-19 in the aged-care facility. Donna wrote: 'On the news I watched with disgust as the Prime Minister talked about aged care. For him to say 97 per cent of the time we have got it right, along with Richard Colbeck's complete lack of care and concern for what has happened, is a complete slap in the face to families like mine who have been affected by this tragedy. Dad was 90 but was in good health. He was an amazing man who loved his family dearly and who could answer more questions on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? than you or I. He did not deserve to die the way he did. I believe together we can all help to implement change in the industry, such as mandatory infection control for all staff, so this does not happen again. Dad died an unnecessary death and I don't want that to be in vain.' One of the saddest parts of Donna's story is that when she asked her father if he wanted to come live with her at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, he said, 'No, I'm safe in here.' People like Donna's father, Patrick, entered aged care to be looked after and cared for in their older years. At the time Donna contacted my office her father was one of 107 cases in that aged-care facility alone.

All those people, the thousands of people in aged care across Australia, and their loved ones deserve a government that's got a plan to keep them safe. Instead, they have a government that has let them down. My heart breaks for the people across Australia who have lost loved ones in aged care to COVID-19. Our thoughts are with all the families dealing with grief and loss, particularly people in Victoria, whose grief would be compounded by the lockdown.

In question time yesterday, when asked about his handling of this crisis, the aged-care minister rejected the premise or the assertion in the question no less than eight times. The Prime Minister even gloated in his party room this week about how his government handled the COVID aged-care crisis. What type of person, let alone a Prime Minister, gloats when families are losing loved ones? What type of Prime Minister flippantly dismisses questions? What type of minister comes into the Senate and dismisses questions outright? Is the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians unable to answer these questions because the answers are so bad or because he is so incompetent? When it comes to aged care the federal government is in charge. They fund aged care, they regulate aged care, they have the legislation that determines the quality of aged care. No matter how much the government or Mr Morrison might claim the responsibility is shared, they are responsible for aged care. The buck stops with the Prime Minister.

Instead of treating this global pandemic of a highly contagious disease particularly affecting older people with the seriousness that it deserves, the Morrison government has failed. Mr Morrison left Senator Colbeck in charge of aged care. He is an incompetent junior minister who is in over his head. He is a minister who said this week that we are 'extremely fortunate'—these are his words—in how COVID has been handled in residential aged care. He said Australia is in 'a relatively good position' and the government had done reasonably well. Senator Colbeck is a minister who hasn't even briefed his cabinet about the crisis in aged care. He hasn't even briefed the national cabinet about the crisis in aged care. This is a minister who can't remember, or didn't bother to learn, how many people had died in residential aged care when he appeared before the Senate COVID committee.

The Morrison government failed to have a competent minister and failed to have a plan for the COVID-19 crisis unfolding on their watch. Evidence heard at the royal commission into aged care has confirmed that there was no plan. This week, royal commissioners stated that 'independent measurement and public reporting is essential for the good operation of the aged-care system'. The royal commission said:

It is unacceptable that in 2020 the aged care system is still without this. Had the Australian Government acted upon previous reviews of aged care, the persistent problems in aged care would have been known much earlier and the suffering of many people could have been avoided.

That's the royal commission saying that the government's failure to have a plan has led to the suffering of older Australians in their care. The Prime Minister and his aged-care minister have failed to act. They've failed to equip the aged-care workforce with the training and equipment that they need to protect older Australians. Elizabeth from Williamstown, Victoria, contacted my office and shared her story. It's the one Senator Wong alluded to. I'd like to share Elizabeth's words with the chamber. This is about her mother, who contracted COVID-19 in aged care: 'The residents had been kept in their rooms 24 hours a day without fresh air or mobility. My mother was asking me to tell them to give her pills for her to die today. When she went to hospital with COVID symptoms, they found she also had a secondary infection in her chest and a UTI. She has been left in soiled nappies for hours on end and on many occasions for a whole day. I feel sorry for the staff, they are so under-resourced, and the manager is happy that I am complaining, saying, "You can be my voice."' What kind of system is it where it's the children of desperately ill people—who want to die rather than stay in the aged-care system run by the Morrison government—that the staff are relying on to speak up for them? That's because the government haven't listened. They haven't listed to the frontline workers, they haven't listened to the Health Services Union and they haven't listened to the aged-care royal commission.

These stories are hard to hear. I acknowledge that. Minister Colbeck clearly feels uncomfortable—so uncomfortable he had to leave the chamber and not hear these stories. Well, he should feel uncomfortable. This is happening on his watch during his time as the minister. He is responsible. Minister Colbeck is overseeing a system where older Australians are being left soiled for days on end. Minister Colbeck needs to own the fact that, as the Neglect report found, older Australians are going malnourished in residential aged care. They've been left with maggots in their mouths and ants in their open wounds. The aged-care system is broken and it needs to be fixed, and if Minister Colbeck can't do that they need to get a minister in there who can. They need to do it and they need to do it now.

We've got dark days ahead—Victoria remains in lockdown—to get the spread of COVID-19 under control. Sadly, we are going to see more people die in residential aged care. My heart breaks for them, for their families and for the workers in aged care who entered their profession to protect and to care for older Australians. Until we have a vaccine for COVID-19, we must be doing everything we can to protect aged-care residents. What is unfolding across Australia's aged-care system is tragic. It is devastatingly sad. But the saddest thing of all is that all of this was preventable, if only the Morrison government had listened and acted, and had a plan to protect some of our most precious and vulnerable citizens in residential aged care.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If this is government putting aged care as their top priority, I'd hate to think what's happening in other areas that aren't top priority. This, supposedly, gets the government's undivided attention. What happens when there's something that hasn't got the government's undivided attention? How did we get to the position where the government is comparing what happened elsewhere to what happens in Australia and is saying that we are doing relatively well? How did we get to the position where people are reporting finding their loved ones with insects and ants crawling over their wounds, where people know that their loved ones are not being fed and that they're lying in soiled nappies?

That is not doing anything but being atrocious. It is not being reasonably well managed. It is just so appalling that, having looked at what was happening overseas, we didn't act to put in place the strongest measures possible to ensure that COVID did not get into our aged-care facilities. At the COVID committee, the minister has a number of times stated, 'The disease is coming in with the care workers, so it was inevitable.' But what we find from the information that's now coming out of Victoria is that in fact the healthcare workers and the care workers are catching it in their workplace.

For years, people have been talking about the poor conditions in aged care. We have a royal commission, so now the Prime Minister says, 'We can't do anything; we can't make too many changes,' and the minister says, 'We can't make too many changes because of the royal commission.' We have a royal commission because the position was so bad. Knowing that very well, we went into the pandemic without the proper plans in place to make sure that we would stop COVID getting in. We know it wasn't inevitable, as the government and, in particular, the minister say, because there are facilities that have managed to keep it out. Yesterday I articulated in this place the measures that were taken in February and March by some providers, and, when a healthcare worker did get COVID, it did not go any further. So it was not inevitable that it would spread. It is another symptom of this government's flawed approach to aged care. I've said in this place a number of times that there have been 35 reports over 40 years.

This government came in seven years ago. They have had that time to take much more urgent action on aged care. But what do they do? Instead of fixing it, we get a royal commission and then we can kick it off even further down the track. We've known for a long time that there wasn't the adequate level of care in aged-care facilities. Residents need four hours and 18 minutes daily; that's what the research shows. We need at least $3.5 billion to be invested. What do the Prime Minister and the minister say? They say, 'We're going to mention that in the budget, potentially.' It's too late then. Invest the money now. You know very well that we need increased care. We know very well that we need workforce. Yes, we need a surge workforce, but we actually need a permanent increase of workforce in aged-care facilities. We know we need to improve clinical care because we've documented that in the last Senate report on aged care. We know that the clinical care in aged-care facilities is not up to scratch. We know that aged-care providers are actually confused about their duty of care. Knowing this, the government does nothing to address the clinical care needs and nothing to address that issue around duty of care.

There are so many faults in our aged-care system. And the government is saying, 'Leave it to the royal commission, and then we'll make a few ad hoc allocations of resources as an issue bobs up.' We still aren't seeing the retention bonus being made available to all workers in aged-care facilities, because apparently aged-care residents only get COVID from the healthcare workers, not from the other allied support workers in there, nor from the cleaners, nor from the cooks—apparently. How many times does the government have to be told that this is a significant issue and that you can't kick the can down the road? You have to deal with it now.

I'm sick of being told we're making this political. This is a government. This is politics. This is a crisis situation, and the government needs to respond. If it takes us standing up every day in this chamber and saying, 'You are not doing it right,' we will keep doing that. Certainly the Greens will, and I'm seeing nods from the opposition as well. This needs to be brought to the government's attention because we need that level of investment. We need those plans from every single provider. This is not just about Victoria. We could see this situation replicated across this country, because this government cannot stand up with its hand on its heart and say that every single aged-care facility in this country is COVID-ready—because they are not. They simply are not COVID-ready. We've seen what's happened in Victoria. That could happen anywhere else in this country if COVID-19, unfortunately, breaks out again, because, as I said, not all of these facilities and providers can say that they are totally prepared. They don't have the workforce. There's not a surge workforce in place. This is not having a go at the workers, because they're working so hard to protect older Australians right now, but they either weren't provided with infectious disease control training—it's not mandatory—or they were given it online. In retrospect, the government sort of think maybe that wasn't a good idea, and they will try to do it face to face.

There have been 74 spot checks in Victoria and, I think, 34 in New South Wales. Spot checks aren't good enough. Random spot checks aren't good enough. Providers all need to be prepared. They need to be following the examples of those topnotch providers who thought about this in February and March, which is when this government should have been out there with every provider.

Our regulator needs more staff. It needs more grunt. We've been calling for that for years and years in terms of improving regulations and improving clinical care. More and more aged-care facilities now are subacute care providers. We know they don't properly understand clinical care.

I have been calling for the list of all the facilities in Victoria that have a COVID-19 outbreak. We still have not been provided with that full list, only with a list of those facilities that have over five cases. Providers are saying they need that list. What is the government's response? 'The Victorian heat maps will tell you where it is.' The heat maps are not detailed enough. Again, the government is not being transparent and not being accountable.

Invest the money that's needed—now. Increase the hours of care—making sure you've got nurses on, making sure that the care is properly provided, making sure that all aged-care facilities are prepared for a potential outbreak. One thing you can do for the loved ones of those who have died is promise that this won't happen anywhere else. But you're not demonstrating that you are learning from this experience. You are not demonstrating that you will commit the funding that is needed or put in place the plans. You are not even demonstrating that you understand the extent of what is happening and what you need to do to fix this crisis. Give older Australians hope that, if they need care, it will be there, and that they are not literally risking their lives if they go into residential care, which is what is happening now. I would not let my mum go into residential aged care at this point, because I cannot guarantee her safety if I did. And I know other Australians around this country will be thinking exactly the same thing. I know that there are providers out there who want to do the right thing by older Australians. Support them to do that. Make sure you've got the plans in place.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to have three minutes, if that's possible?

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Aged care has been stressed since well before the pandemic. That is the fault of government, not necessarily the exclusive fault of the current minister, who has only been in the job for just over a year. I think we should recognise that, to be fair. The pandemic came along and there could, properly, be some excuse for an imperfect response. Certainly, that is the case for the first wave. However, the government knew that there was the possibility of a second wave. Yet, on the evidence that's been provided to COVID committees and, indeed, to the chamber, no plan was put in place to deal with a second wave, to deal with what could come as a result of a second wave. We now have a total of just over 350 elderly Australians that have passed because of the pandemic.

I have a Navy background. When a ship runs aground, the captain is relieved of command, and admirals make sure captains are relieved of command so that other ships don't run aground. Sadly, the aged-care ship has run aground.

Question agreed to.