CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms CATHERINE KING (Ballarat—Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) (10:36): Everyone, wherever they live, deserves access to quality aged care close to their loved ones. It's something I feel very passionately about and that the Albanese Labor government is prioritising. John Curtin Aged Care in my electorate provides an incredibly important service to the Creswick community.
It's a registered charity. It's a place where older people are treated with dignity and respect and a place that families can spend time with their loved ones. Like many great aged-care centres, it is experiencing high demand.
It's why I was really delighted to announce that the government is providing $13 million to John Curtin Aged Care as part of our Aged Care Capital Assistance Program. The funding will deliver 18 new beds, taking the total to 93 beds. The funding will also allow for 35 of the existing rooms to be refurbished.
Every single room at John Curtin looks out onto the garden. Not only is that calming and uplifting for residents; many of the people that come to live there are country people and have spent their entire lives surrounded by nature. It's something that makes John Curtin special and I'm pleased that that important feature will be retained for the residents when the upgrade occurs.
Of course, the facility is named after Creswick born prime minister John Curtin. The centre itself was opened by another Labor legend, Prime Minister Bob Hawke, in 1986. Labor government support for aged care that supports the dignity of older people is in our DNA.
The $30 million for this refurbishment is really an investment in the Creswick community. It will mean work for local contractors and builders delivering on that refurbishment. It'll mean more jobs in the community for the extra staff who are already employed as a result of the expansion.
Most importantly, it's an investment in the future of this town—in Creswick families and older people who live in this area. I was really pleased to make this announcement in Creswick with the dedicated board and staff of the centre, as well as the valued residents. We made this announcement on the same day as the Albanese Labor government delivered a fourth increase in award wages to the 40,000 dedicated workers in our aged-care sector—an increase of $60.20 per week for a registered nurse.
It ends, frankly, a decade where aged-care workers were systematically underpaid and undervalued in this country. Our government is delivering on our once-in-a-generation reforms to the aged-care sector that will see more older Australians get better care faster and more home-care and Support at Home packages and that will fund those increases in the number of beds and facilities like those in Creswick.
Our older Australians deserve to age in dignity, and I'm very pleased that we'll be able to support not only John Curtin Aged Care but particularly the residents, as well as the workers in that facility through the extra wages. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Small ): There being no further statements, we'll move to the next item of business.