QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator BLYTH (South Australia) (16:00): I just want to pick up a little bit of what Senator Ananda-Rajah started off with in her contribution. The Albanese government did make a promise to the older Australians here in Australia. He made a promise that he would look after them.
What is happening is an absolute disgrace for older Australians. It is unacceptable that we have older Australians who are dying before they get the care that they need. These are older Australians who have contributed to the Australian taxation system their entire lives.
When they need help, this government is nowhere to be seen. Let's talk about the facts a little bit there. Rather than making personal attacks towards Senator Colbeck, perhaps it would be better to actually look at the facts.
The waiting list is now 150,000 older Australians. That number has increased exponentially. That is nearly five times the number that was inherited from the coalition.
So I think perhaps we should be looking at the facts here before we start making personal attacks on people on this side of the chamber. Five thousand people have died just in the last 12 months. These are older Australians.
They have families. The answer from this Labor government is, 'Apply for your home care package earlier.' The system doesn't let them if they don't qualify, so they can't. So they are stuck on a wait list for over 12 months, desperate for the care that they need because of the system that has been set up by this Labor government.
This is a problem that this Labor government has created, and now they're trying to blame older Australians and say they're the reason that they're not getting the care they need. It is disgraceful. This Labor government doesn't care about older Australians.
They're more interested in spinning their own tales about how this is playing out. People will continue to die until they are able to actually tell the truth to the Australian people. We need a prime minister who is going to stop making promises that he can't keep.
Then we move to the Coalition of Veterans' Voices. I was very privileged to meet this group of veterans here in Parliament House this week. These veterans are desperate.
They have come to Canberra for help because the Labor government is going to put a cap on the funded allied health services that veterans in Australia are going to be able to access. So not only is this Labor government failing older Australians; they're now failing veterans in this country as well. These are brave men and women who have worn the uniform, who have gone out there, prepared to put their life on the line for Australia.
When they need help, when they are broken, when they come back from war and need help, this Labor government said, 'You can only have $5,000 worth of help a year.' This is going to cost veterans their lives. These brave men and women deserve the support that they need from a country that they were willing to go and fight for and defend. This Labor government is at war with everyone in this country, and it seems that the veterans are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs didn't want to meet with the Coalition of Veterans' Voices yesterday; he was forced into it. What we've been told is that when he did finally take that meeting, he refused to shake hands. He crossed his hands and wouldn't engage in any kind of decent conversation.
This is a government who is turning its back on old people in Australia and turning its back on veterans. It is an absolute disgrace. Question agreed to.