STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator LIDDLE (South Australia—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (13:42): Labor is pitching young people against older Australians—those people who have contributed to our country. They do it for so-called inter-generational equity, which is a nonsense statement when you look at what the tax reforms they've just passed will do for the future of young people.

It's an economic bomb. An ABC Four Corners investigation revealed what Australians already know. The Albanese government is letting them down and, worse still, is also targeting them.

On 2 July, I stood here and called for an end to Labor's 'computer says no' approach for aged care assessment. It was true then. It was true last year, and it is true today.

Labor must return human override to its untested, unreliable, rigid and flawed algorithms. Everyone in this chamber was in agreement, just not the Albanese government. Still, Labor says no—no to common sense, painful stories of older Australians and evidence from experts that was overwhelming.

Labor's own independent Inspector-General warned in July that the government was on the wrong path in aged care. The coalition tried again last week to bring legislation before parliament to restore professional human judgement. Labor again shut down debate.

The ABC exposé revealed how this Labor government, which promised accountability and transparency, changed how it calculated the waiting list after the reforms, excluding people receiving interim funding. More than 150,000 people are waiting for a fully approved level of care. That's not good enough.

The PM is on record saying that Labor will look after older Australians and that no-one will be held back or left behind. None of that is true here, not for any older Australian and not for Australians.