Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I find myself here again under order of the Senate—an order of the Senate that is highly politically motivated in terms of the relentless politicisation of matters in relation to aged care and the relentless politicisation of delicate matters in relation to COVID-19. The approach that is being taken by those opposite seems to put the reality of COVID-19, of the omicron variant and the many challenges and infectiousness that it results in, to one side just in pursuit of political points; in particular, in pursuit of political points against the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services.

I reject the basis upon which this motion has been made and the many accusations that have been made and, indeed, will be made, I'm sure, in the debate that will ensue. I want to state very, very clearly the support for Minister Colbeck and the work that he does—has done, continues to do and will continue to do—across the government. The support, though, is not just for Minister Colbeck, because it is not about him; it's about a team of health experts and aged-care experts across different government agencies that he works closely with. It's about all those different officials and employees across the Australian Public Service who have been working with him, with the government and with Minister Hunt to make sure they do all possible from a Commonwealth level in support of the people who it is really about—that is, aged-care workers, aged-care residents and those people on the front line of aged care in perhaps the most difficult time that aged-care facilities around the world have faced. In terms of modern aged-care facilities, I think we can say with a high degree of confidence that none in any country have faced situations like those which COVID-19 has brought to them in the last couple of years.

I'm sure we will see slurs and attacks made on Minister Colbeck about his attendance at the cricket. I want to make it very clear that Minister Colbeck, as those in this chamber know, isn't just the minister for aged care services; he is also the Minister for Sport, and he's also the senior government senator from Tasmania. All of you know the circumstances in terms of the different responsibilities he has within those different roles he has. However, even with that, I know he continues to give enormous priority and precedence to the work he has to do as the minister for aged care services because of the global challenges and, with how they materialise in Australia, the local challenges that the aged-care sector faces.

On 14 January, when some will allege that Minister Colbeck was not at his job, Minister Colbeck was hard at it in terms of participating in many different aspects of the aged-care response. Those included: the COVID vaccine and response meeting, led by task force commander Lieutenant General John Frewen; a meeting with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner and with the acting secretary of the Department of Health on a range of different aged-care matters, including the status of outbreaks across the aged-care sector at that stage; and a meeting with the Deputy Chief Medical Officer to discuss aged-care advisory group actions and to work through all those different issues. They are just some of the things in relation to the work in the aged-care services portfolio that Minister Colbeck undertook that day, as he does every day in terms of working through these issues, with his engagement with all those senior officials and with the sector in terms of addressing the challenges of COVID-19.

Minister Colbeck has also made himself very available—I'm sure this will come up as well—to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, appearing on multiple occasions before that committee—as well as the times he has appeared before Senate estimates committees and the endless questions he continues to face in this chamber about important issues as they relate to aged care. They are important issues. Nobody denies the fact that the challenges in aged care are real; as I said before, they are real not just in Australia but right around the world. Tragically, there is a loss of life around the world and in Australia, and in aged-care facilities in Australia, as a result of COVID. But, of course, in those aged-care facilities across the country there is also a sad and tragic loss of life every day, due to a range of factors in terms of the individuals at end-of-life that workers are caring for and supporting.

The government's response to supporting aged care has been to focus on vaccines where it can. Every single aged-care facility has had the opportunity for its residents to have not just a first dose, not just a second dose, but a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As is known, the one area that the government led, in terms of urging for and supporting a mandate in relation to vaccines, was aged care, in working with the states and territories to see them enact those requirements across the board.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the government, under the leadership of Ministers Colbeck and Hunt, have sought to provide significant support to the aged-care sector—more than $2½ billion worth of investment and support to the aged-care sector, with more than $1½ billion of that $2½ billion of additional support being made available to support the aged-care workforce in particular. We recognise the challenges of the workforce that have been exacerbated by the wide spread of the omicron variant and the associated isolation requirements that have ensued. That has required us to trigger the various availabilities for surge workforce assistance across the country. As at 4 February, more than 80,000 shifts have been filled by workforce surge staff supporting the aged-care sector. As I understand it, there are around 852 current deployments of surge staff and support at active outbreak sites across residential aged-care facilities. A range of different providers are supporting that operation, including the Australian Defence Force, with the capabilities they have to hand.

The type of work they do is supported by the significant volumes of personal protective equipment and other equipment that we've made available to support aged care throughout the pandemic. We've seen tens of millions of masks, gowns, gloves, goggles and face shields, hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitiser and millions of rapid antigen tests dispatched to aged-care facilities to help meet the unique needs and challenges they face. None of these things make it easy in aged-care facilities because COVID-19 cannot be easy in terms of the management of those facilities. Our thoughts go in particular to the workforce, who we've supported not just in providing the surge capacity and additional staff capacity but also through bonus and retention payments that have been made during the course of the pandemic. Four separate workforce bonus payments were made to aged-care workers, recognising the additional stressors that have been placed upon them. These temporary actions we've taken in response to COVID-19 in the aged-care sector are in addition to the fundamental reforms that we are pursuing in the response to the aged-care royal commission that Minister Colbeck, together with Minister Hunt, has been leading.

In last year's budget, and in further midyear budget updates, more than $18 billion has been committed and is being delivered through the aged-care sector to support comprehensive areas of reform recommended by the royal commission. Additional home-care places, additional arrangements in relation to minimum staff and additional safety requirements are all different areas that Minister Colbeck is well versed to speak on and to detail. The government's response has been comprehensive. The government have been clear in what we are doing, how we are going about it and what funds are provided.

The opposition seek to be critics, but they've offered no alternative in relation to the responses to the aged-care sector but for one that I suspect we will see again in this debate as they trot it out as part of their attacks on Minister Colbeck and the government—that is, that they will make a submission for aged-care workers to receive a higher wage outcome from the process before the independent umpire at the Fair Work Commission. The government support the Fair Work Commission process. We support the decisions, whatever they may be, of the independent umpire, and we have provided information to it. Those opposite, though, want to have their cake and eat it too on that debate. They say there should be an increase but they don't have the guts to actually say what it should be. They won't say whether it should be a cent or a dollar or $100 or $1,000. They won't put any figure on it. It is a hollow promise they're making, and of course the reason that they won't put any dollars on it is that they don't want to have to account for it. What trust, what faith can aged-care workers have in relation to those opposite if they run around saying: 'We think there should be an increase; we would make a submission, but we won't actually say what we would put in that submission and we are not going to budget a single cent to actually deliver it'? What confidence can they have that it is nothing other than a cheap political stunt by those opposite to seek to take advantage of a sector that is stressed, that is challenged, that is facing a global challenge and crisis the likes of which they have never confronted before and their counterparts around the world have never confronted before?

In Australia we have managed, notwithstanding the enormous challenges of this, to keep COVID-19 at bay in the main whilst vaccinations were developed and the vaccination program rolled out. During that time we have seen an improvement, in the sense that whilst the omicron variant may be much more infectious it also results in around 70 per cent less severe health outcomes. What we've successfully done as a country through our closed border and through other measures that we, the states and territories, industry and others have achieved is buy time to get the vaccinations developed, initially around the world, and to have a more resilient environment in aged care today.

I have no doubt that we will hear plenty of politicking to come from those opposite, plenty of sniping at Minister Colbeck that will be unfair and personalised and seek to continue to paint a picture of an aged-care sector not supported by the government or the officials hard at work in actually delivering support on the ground. The picture those opposite paint is not an accurate one, and it is certainly not one that actually reflects and understands the complexities in the aged-care sector, the complexities in dealing with COVID-19. It pretends that somehow there are alternate universes in which COVID can be locked in a box and in which omicron is not actually as transmissible as it is. That's just not true. There are real challenges that we all have to deal with. What we have sought to do is provide as much support in a very challenging environment as possible, and I know that Minister Colbeck will continue to do that with the greatest of diligence and effort to the task at hand.

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

HER ( — ) ( ): I move:

That the Senate take note of the statement.

I thank the Leader of the Government in the Senate for providing that speech this morning. Despite what Senator Birmingham said, the picture we paint is an accurate picture of what's happening in aged care at the moment. We have an aged-care system that is broken. We have an aged-care system that is in crisis. We have an aged-care system where it cannot be guaranteed at the moment that elderly people living in residential aged care are receiving the quality of care that they deserve. There are too many stories of neglect. There are too many stories of people who have lost loved ones—mums and dads and grandparents and, in some cases, younger people living in residential aged care—in terrible circumstances that will devastate those families and those individuals for years to come, if not forever.

This isn't the fault of the staff who work in the aged-care sector. There are not enough of them. They don't get paid enough. You can't retain them because they can get better pay outside the sector. The providers support this view. It's not us sitting here politicking; this is the snapshot of aged care at the moment. I know the minister knows that, because he will be getting the same emails and the same correspondence that we are getting—awful stories of what is currently happening in aged care.

I know the government wants to say, 'Well, it's omicron,' or, 'Well, it's COVID.' While COVID has stressed the system, it's not the cause of the broken system we have. That has been years in the making. We've had 22 reports and a royal commission with an interim report titled Neglect. We've had a Treasurer, now Prime Minister, who cut funding from aged care when we were in a world of 'a surplus at any cost', despite the fact that it was going to hurt elderly Australians. When we were living in that world and that political reality, that's what the Prime Minister did. Those cuts and those failures of years ago are coming back to roost now, and, yes, we do hold this minister responsible. Perhaps he's not responsible for all the failures of the system—that goes to his predecessors as well—but at some point somebody has to take responsibility.

If I can deal with the cricket again—I know this has become a talking point—the cricket is symbolic of a complacent government that has not worked during its nine years to fix a system. I don't care that Minister Colbeck went to the cricket. I wish I could have gone to the cricket that day. I like the cricket. But the fact is we were told by Minister Colbeck that he did not want to see resources diverted from dealing with the crisis and therefore he could not attend the committee hearing. That is the problem—that we weren't told the truth. That smacks of complacency, arrogance and disrespect for the Senate.

From my point of view, the real issue is about what's happening for people living in aged care. We have the Defence Force currently working in there. Yes, there is an impact from COVID, but we have nearly 200,000 Australians, at their most vulnerable, living in a system where we cannot guarantee that they are going to be cared for properly. That is the failure of this minister and it is a failure of this government. As I said, it might not be fair to lay 100 per cent of the fault at Minister Colbeck's feet. Maybe 50 per cent of it should be with the Prime Minister. Maybe more should be with the Prime Minister, seeing as how he made all the cuts to aged care years ago. But, under our system, the minister takes responsibility.

The system is in crisis. Hundreds of people are dying. Staff are leaving the sector in droves. The government doesn't have the answers and, over the years, hasn't made the investment that would have provided elderly Australians with the protection they deserve. It is a national shame that we accept the system as it is. It has to be better, and the minister has to be held to account.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was a very, very interesting contribution from Senator Gallagher. What we heard was a catalogue of criticisms without any solutions. What is the definition of politics in this place? What is the definition of politicking in this Senate chamber? That definition is coming into this place with your criticisms and not offering up a plan.

This is Labor—not offering up a plan today and not offering up a plan yesterday. When Bill Shorten went to the last election and asked for support from the Australian people, guess what he said about aged care? Guess what he said about the funding of aged care? You're right—nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Silence. Australians are right to ask: if Bill Shorten had been elected Prime Minister and this country had been confronted with a pandemic, what would aged-care funding look like? What would it look like? If you can't tell Australians, at an election, on the day you're giving your National Press Club speech, what aged-care funding will look like if you're elected, then Australians cannot trust you. I'm very confident that aged care would be in a significantly different place if Labor had won the last election.

Minister Colbeck has stewarded this country in aged-care policy through significant landmark reforms. I say that as someone who, through the community affairs committee process, has watched very, very closely the contributions he has made.

Let me identify one important contribution that Senator Gallagher and, I'm sure, other Labor senators choose to ignore. I would hope that, if Senator Siewert were still here, Senator Waters, she would draw attention to this very, very important and particular issue—that is, the work that Minister Colbeck has specifically done around strengthening regulations as they apply to physical and chemical constraints in aged-care homes. I hope that, if the Greens make a contribution and there's a future contribution by Labor, it will at least have the decency to recognise that this is a minister who has not only pursued reforms and fought to have them well funded at historically high levels. This is a minister who has been tackling other issues which are just as important in our aged-care system. Senator Waters, that's your challenge. I challenge you to at least recognise that, because Senator Siewert would have had the decency to do so. She would absolutely have had the decency to do that, because Senator Colbeck worked closely with Senator Siewert when she was in this place.

It is just unacceptable for Labor to continue to come into this place, arguing for reforms for aged care and arguing for funding for aged-care workers, and not even offer up a solution or a figure. Even the newspapers were forced to report that Anthony Albanese, in making a pledge for aged care, made a loose commitment that he would fund aged care. Guess what he didn't do? He did not put a figure on it. Is he saying that the future forward estimates increases in aged-care funding are guaranteed, or are they not guaranteed? When Labor were in government previously, they did change aged-care funding and they dialled it down. Labor doesn't talk about that. It doesn't want to talk about that. But its record is appalling.

Senator Gallagher made a very good point: these issues are complex. There's a matrix of issues. But guess where the devastation happened the most for families of people in aged care? In the state of Victoria. But, while drawing necessary attention to this, at least have the decency to identify that Premier Daniel Andrews's poor contact tracing, allowing community transmission in the community, led to all those aged-care deaths. If you don't believe me, go to the Senate estimates transcripts and look at what Commonwealth health officials had to say. These are the facts.

This is a minister who is diligent, who is committed, who is available and who has been pursuing reforms across the entire aged-care sector. The challenge is actually for Labor. As we approach the federal election, people will be interested to know what the alternative aged-care solution is. Thus far, Labor has said nothing and it's committed not one red cent. The challenge on aged care going forward is— (Time expired)

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this morning to speak to Senator Watt's motion and to ask the government to explain why Minister Colbeck remains the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services. The Minister for Aged Care has failed to keep older people safe, and the federal government is responsible for aged care. They have done a shocking job at keeping older people safe in this country. The minister for aged care has failed—and the word 'failed' has to be reiterated—on all accounts. He's failed on the vaccine rollout, failed to provide boosters to older Australians and their carers and failed to provide PPE. Aged-care workers still have to pay for their own rapid antigen tests. This is simply unacceptable. Older people in residential aged care are missing out on a basic care and hygiene due to the workforce shortages and, of course, the COVID crisis. Our older people are locked down and isolated from family and friends because of this government's failure to protect them. Where's the minister's accountability? It's missing in action, as usual.

Yesterday, in my home state of WA, we recorded our first two cases of omicron in an aged-care facility. These cases were detected in a residential aged-care facility in Bentley. I'm extremely worried about the threat of COVID in aged-care facilities, particularly in WA, as we open our border. We should be learning the lessons from the COVID crisis here on the east coast and doing everything we can to support aged-care services, particularly in Western Australia.

These are not new issues in the aged-care sector. These have been going on for decades, and the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that there were unacceptably high levels of abuse and neglect in aged care and, in fact, with the intersection of disability, anyone that is over 65 years of age is in aged care. The system was in crisis before COVID arrived. That needs to be acknowledged, and thanks to a decade of funding cuts by successive governments this is the place that we find ourselves in.

The care economy is one of our largest workforces. The aged-care workers in this country are underpaid and overworked. They are some of the lowest paid people in the country, and they have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic to support older people in our communities. They absolutely deserve better.

The royal commission recommended that the government in this sector put in applications to the Fair Work Commission to increase their wages. The latest federal budget included no ongoing wage increase for these workers. The one-off payment that the Morrison government announced recently is just not enough. It's not enough when this is our largest workforce in this country. Without serious long-term commitments to improve pay, conditions and training, this government will be unable to implement the recommendations from the royal commission.

Unlike the major parties, the Greens are strongly backing the calls from the unions for permanent wage increases for aged-care workers, and the Greens are the only party arguing that aged care should not be run for profit. Big corporations should not be making millions of dollars for the provision of essential social services—I want to note, that was the work that Senator Rachel Siewert had done so tirelessly in this sector. And for-profit companies now have gotten away with substandard care for too long, which is now why we are at crisis point in this global pandemic.

For the folks out there who are watching, we are having an election very soon. By voting Greens in this election we have a chance to kick out this government, the one that has caused this situation and exacerbated this situation. Your vote is powerful, so, together, we can kick them out and we can ensure that everyone in this country has access to high-quality aged-care services.

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

I believe it's important for me to make a contribution as part of this debate, because I thought it's important that I express the commitment that I have always had through this portfolio since I was appointed to it at the beginning of this parliamentary term. This is a difficult portfolio, and that difficulty has been exacerbated by COVID-19. As has been acknowledged through the debate, I came to the portfolio with a royal commission which exposed a whole range of issues that needed to be addressed in aged care. That is my commitment: to address those issues in aged care. It's been made all the more difficult by the circumstances of COVID.

I would just like to quickly address a couple of things. There's been a lot of comment made about the booster rollout. The booster rollout is well ahead of what it was originally programmed to do. While Labor were having their holidays over Christmas, we received advice on Christmas Eve that the period between second and third shots should be brought forward. This government, over Christmas, while Labor was on holidays, worked to bring forward the booster shots for residential aged-care facilities in this country, and they have all now been achieved. Every facility in the country has been visited.

These are the things that keep me and my departmental officials awake at night to make sure we do everything we possibly can in support of residents in residential aged care. I've had the opportunity to work in facilities as a contractor before coming to this place. I've seen the way that the industry has changed, but I also understand that there is further reform required.

This government has put in place the most comprehensive response in history to any royal commission: $17.7 billion; a five-pillar, five-year reform program for this industry. That $17.7 billion post MYEFO is now in excess of $18 billion. This government's commitment cannot be questioned, and the criticism from the other side would actually mean something if they had a plan. They have no plan. They have no response to the royal commission, almost a year since it was handed down.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for the debate has expired.

Question agreed to.