MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator ALLMAN-PAYNE (Queensland) (17:09): I seek leave to move an amendment to the motion. Leave not granted. Senator ALLMAN-PAYNE: Pursuant to contingent notice standing in the name of Senator Waters, I move: That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving an amendment to the motion.

It is urgent that standing orders be suspended because the coalition's motion does not go to the heart of the problem with the aged-care reforms. It is necessary for us to suspend standing orders so that we can speak to the fact that the reforms that we have before us are based on the financial co-payment model that was designed behind closed doors with the government and the coalition.

It is important that we suspend standing orders so that the community understands that, whilst the coalition gets up and says this aged-care reform is not working and the government is to blame, it shares in the blame for the co-payment system that is causing older Australians to suffer. It is important that we suspend standing orders so we can focus the debate on the fact that, whilst the coalition stands up and says it is so concerned about pensioners having to pay more, it was the coalition who joined with the Labor government to pass the aged-care reform bill, which contains the co-payment model.

It is important and urgent that we suspend standing orders so that every Australian knows that the co-payment model that older Australians are now trying to work within in aged care was voted for in this chamber by Labor senators, coalition senators, One Nation senators and every senator on the crossbench except the senators from the Australian Greens. It is important that we suspend standing orders so that the community knows and understands this and we can debate the fact that the Inspector-General of Aged Care, Ms Siegel-Brown, said, before these reforms came to pass, that the co-payment model would see people being denied access to the care that they need and deserve.

It is important that we suspend standing orders so we can debate the fact that the co-payment model was voted for by the coalition and the government, who cooked it up behind closed doors, and was supported by every member of the crossbench except the Greens. It is important that we focus our debate and therefore suspend standing orders so that we can move this amendment so that the community understands that Labor, the coalition, One Nation and the crossbench share the blame for the co-payment model that is still currently seeing seniors paying up to $50 for a shower, assistance with dressing and incontinence care.

It is important that they also understand that Labor is responsible for the algorithm that is currently underassessing thousands of Australians who can't access care at the level they need. It is important that we suspend standing orders so that we focus this debate on the Greens amendment which says that a problem here is the integrated assessment tool, which must be immediately changed to reinstate human override so that people with progressive degenerative diseases like MND are not underassessed.

It is important that we suspend standing orders to move this amendment because, whilst the algorithm is underassessing people, we also have people who are still prevented from accessing the care they need because they cannot afford the co-payments. Pensioners and part-pensioners in this country are making more hardship applications than ever because this system and the financials behind the aged-care reforms that we now have in place were designed behind closed doors by the Labor government and the coalition and voted for in the Senate by the Labor government, the coalition One Nation senators and every person on the crossbench, despite the Inspector-General warning that they would deprive people of care.

It is important that the Australian public understands how we got here. The Greens agree that we need to reinstate human override into the integrated assessment tool. But make no mistake.

Pensioners are suffering because everyone in this chamber except the Greens supported co-payments for aged care.