The Labor Party pushed ‘quality aged care’ as one of its core electoral platforms to win an election. Now quality aged care is yesterday’s chip wrapper. No real respect has been revealed.
This is the only conclusion that can be reached when it's been eight months since its own Taskforce handed in its report, led by Labor’s selected representative, the Minster for Aged Care. And now nothing. Nothing.
We can only conclude that the Labor political machine is holding the aged care reins for political purposes.
We accept the Minister and the Department understand the task to deliver quality aged care and are ready to act.
Anika Wells in November 2022 (above) identified the challenges. Last October at the Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) National Conference she said "together we will get this done".
The Department’s Nick Hartland PSM, First Assistant Secretary, Ageing and Aged Group, at the National Retirement Living Summit six weeks ago also reflected the Department's strong commitment to action. They are ready.
But the faceless Labor women and men aren’t ready for an election and so older, frail Australians can hang out to dry.
Do these Labor people care that there are 68,000 real people, at an average age of 82 and mostly female, now waiting 12 months and more for a home care package? They are mostly alone, mostly malnourished and in increasingly squalid conditions (with no home assistance), uncertain of their future, and fearful every day.
No, they don’t care because they don’t respect them. They respect an electoral win, and apparently nothing else. This is the only conclusion any rational person can arrive at.
Do these Labor people care that when the home care package recipient passes that point where it is too late and they need residential aged care, they most likely wont get it any time soon because beds are full – and no new beds are being built or even refurbished because these Labor people are sitting on the Taskforce recommendations?
No they don’t, because they have no respect for the aged care operators who have used $5 billion of their own cash over the past five years to keep the doors open, instead of reinvesting in new stock.
What is respect?
Respect is defined as: due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others.
This means Labor disrespects more than 1.5 million aged care stakeholders - 200,000 aged care residents, 250,000 recipients of home care services, 800,000 recipients of CHSP services, and 350,000 aged care workers.
Then add say three family members for each of these people being disrespected. That’s six million people, all of voting age. No wonder aged care was an electoral promise.
And they are getting away with it, because these faceless people of Labor control the cash.
Aged care operators wont challenge them because they respect the people they are responsible for, the frail Australians and the 350,000 staff serving them. They need that cash.
Labor, this is not the Australia we want.
