All Australian aged care homes would have a registered nurse on site 24 hours a day, staff would get a pay rise and residents would have better care under a $2.5bn overhaul promised by the federal opposition.
Anthony Albanese used his budget reply speech to pledge reform of the aged care sector, saying too many people were being left to suffer “unforgivable neglect” under a crisis that had occurred under the Coalition’s watch.
Mr Albanese said a generation of Australians and their families were filled with dread at the thought of having send a parent to an aged care home, with more than half of all residents “literally starving”.
The Opposition Leader on Thursday night unveiled his alternative approach should Labor win the imminent federal election, with aged care reform the centrepiece.
Mr Albanese vowed to improve the lives of Australians should he become prime minister, sharpening his message that a Labor government would introduce sensible policies to bring “renewal, not revolution”.
His promises for aged care include mandating that every Australian living in aged care receives a minimum of 215 minutes of care per day, as recommended by the royal commission into the sector.
The Aged Care Safety Commissioner would be given new powers to oversee the sector, while residential care providers would be forced to publicly report what they spent money on.
Labor would also support aged care workers to argue for a pay rise in the Fair Work Commission and work with the sector to introduce mandatory nutrition standards for aged care homes.
“Older Australians fear that the final chapter of their life will be an aged care facility where they are not properly cared for, let alone afforded real dignity,” he said.
“If we want to change aged care in this country for the better, then we need to start by changing the government.”
The aged care reform package would cost $2.5bn over the forward estimates, excluding any wage increase which would be set independently by the industrial umpire.
Mr Albanese was unsurprisingly scathing of much of the Morrison government’s federal budget for this year, zeroing in on the issue of stagnant wages.
“This prime minister and this treasurer see the last nine years of record low wages growth as a great success story,” he said.
“And that’s why they cannot and will not ever be able to do anything meaningful to help with the cost of living.”
Handed down on Tuesday, the budxjmtzywget centres on an $8.6bn cost of living package of mainly temporary measures including a cut to fuel excise, one-off payments for welfare recipients and an increased tax rebate for low and middle-income earners.
Labor supported the cost of living measures to pass through Parliament’s lower house on Wednesday, but Mr Albanese reiterated his criticism that the budget was full of “insincere” handouts designed to get the Coalition into its second decade of government.
“The budget was – as it always is with this Prime Minister – long on politics, short on plans. A budget that spoke for a wasted decade,” he said.
Scott Morrison has been challenging Mr Albanese to lay out his economic plan.
The Prime Minister says Labor can announce big policies but they need to show how they’re going to pay for it.
“If you cannot manage the nation’s finances then you can’t pay for aged care,” Mr Morrison told question time on Thursday.
In his speech on Thursday night, Mr Albanese recalled “Labor’s legacy” of social reforms including the creation of Medicare and the National Disability Insurance Scheme and outlined his “five pillar plan” to bring down the cost of living and increase wages.
These priorities include investment in renewable energy, which Mr Albanese said would create 604,000 new jobs by 2030 and lower power bills.
The Australian manufacturing sector would be revitalised, childcare would be made cheaper, and infrastructure funding would focus on “vital national projects”, he said.
Labor will promise more university places, 465,000 fee-free TAFE places, and the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia — an independent agency that would research workforce trends and advise on skill shortages.
Mr Albanese sought to differentiate Labor from the Coalition on range of matters including Defence spending, women’s safety and integrity, promising to establish a National Anti Corruption Commission.
He said Labor would end the “climate wars” by taking climate change seriously and seizing the chance to transform Australia into “a renewable energy superpower”.
Mr Albanese said Australians lived in the greatest country on earth but they deserved a better future.
“But ask yourself: is this really as good as it gets? Because I believe we can aim higher,” he said.
