Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025
Senator ALLMAN-PAYNE (Queensland) (20:03): The Greens, too, welcome the demonstration of the power of the Senate today in being able to force the government to release home-care packages now. It shouldn't have taken this long to bring the government to this position, but we showed, through bringing the evidence from our inquiry on Friday and maintaining consistent pressure on the government, that pressure works.
The Greens are proud of the pressure that we have applied over the last month to bring the government to this position, along with Senator Pocock and the coalition. It's concerning just how big the waitlist for aged care is. I want to remind the government that the royal commission said that we needed to stop rationing aged care.
We are so far away at this point in time from ceasing that rationing. Eighty-seven thousand packages for a waitlist of over 200,000 is not going to get us there. So the Greens will continue to work to put pressure on the government.
We also have concerns about the inequity of the new Aged Care Act and the fact that some people are not going to be able to access care because it will be beyond their financial means. We also have serious concerns about the ending of the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which provides essential services like Meals on Wheels. So it is a win today for the Senate.
It shows that pressure in the Senate works, but there is still much more to do. The Greens are going to keep holding the government to account and keep the pressure on them until we stop rationing care for older Australians and we make sure that they get it at the time that they need it. Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, as amended, agreed to, subject to requests; Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025 agreed to.
Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 reported with amendments and requests; Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025 reported without amendment; report adopted. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Because the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 has been agreed to subject to requests, that bill will not be read a third time.
A message will be sent to the House requesting that the House make the amendments.