PM Transcripts

Recognising that the health and happiness of older Australians must be one of our society’s great aims, the Coalition will continue its reform and funding growth for aged care homes and community care. Our plan, Better Care for Older Australians, reaffirms our commitment to enhance the quality of life for Australians in their later years.

Under the Coalition’s policies, the total number of operational aged care places will grow from 168,000 to 200,000 by June 2006. This includes 21,000 additional places in aged care homes and 9,000 Community Aged Care packages.

I announce today a $416 million package over four years to provide funds for more places, better facilities and better care for frail older Australians. This package is designed to:

• maintain and improve the overall quality of our aged care homes. Additional residential care subsidies of $200 million over four years will be provided - pending the outcome of a review of the pricing arrangements for residential aged care, to be conducted in consultation with the industry.
• ensure a fair spread of capital throughout the country. Additional capital funds of $100 million over four years will be allocated for new and existing homes in rural, regional and urban fringe areas. This commitment was announced earlier in the campaign by the Deputy Prime Minister.
• provide flexibility and choice for people wishing to remain within their own homes. An additional 6,000 Community Aged Care Packages, at a cost of $68 million over four years will be funded. These extra packages, which I announced earlier in the campaign, are included in the overall increase of 9,000 packages by June 2006.
• increase the number of dedicated, caring and capable staff with the aged care system. $28 million over the next four years will be used to encourage more people to enter or re-enter aged care nursing, especially in rural and regional Australia.
• continue to build better standards. The Coalition will commit $20 million to assist small aged care homes to train care staff and assist them in meeting accreditation requirements for aged care homes
• The $416 million package is a demonstration the Coalition has been listening to the community about aged care. Rural and regional communities will benefit from the additional funds for capital upgrades. They will also benefit from 1,000 scholarships being provided to rural and regional university campuses to encourage more people to enter or re-enter aged care nursing under our $28 million aged care nurses initiative. Ten thousand care staff would be assisted by the $20 million to assist small aged care homes with training.

The Coalition's aged care package is totally deliverable. Labor’s policy is not. It is framed around a ridiculous commitment to get 12,000 so-called ‘phantom’ beds built.

The Government has already been advised by Professor Len Gray that, under its policies, there is sufficient overall capital available to meet needs until at least 2008. On top of that, I have just announced $100 million of targetted funds to help meet needs in specific areas of capital shortage.

The Government has also been advised by the Departments of Finance and Health and Aged Care that, under its policies, there is sufficient money in the forward estimates to provide care for those needing it, according to planning benchmarks set when Labor was in office.

Labor is saying that, on top of this, an extra 12,000 beds are needed. All it has provided to meet this supposed need is $200 million in repayable capital loans.
However, the capital cost of building these extra beds, using a conservative estimate of $70,000 a bed, would be over $800 million.

The additional on-going cost of caring for 12,000 extra residents, using a conservative estimate of $27,000 per year, comes to over $300 million per year. Labor has made no provision for that whatever.

In other words, there is a ‘black hole’ of $1.2 billion over four years in Labor’s plan to provide an additional 12,000 nursing home beds.

Clearly, Labor’s ‘phantom bed’ promise is an unfunded election stunt that will deliver negligible benefits to frail older Australians.

28 October 2001