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Albanese’s
promise
Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese during an address to the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Opposition leader slams
government treatment of the
elderly, pledges to fix aged care.
By Conor Burke
F
ederal Opposition leader Anthony
Albanese has used a speech in
Queensland to affirm his party’s
plans for older Australians who “did the
hard yards” and “built this nation”.
Albanese told the Queensland Media
Club that if elected to government – the
next federal election can occur no later
than 21 May 2022 – Labor would “move
quickly to develop and implement a
Positive Ageing Strategy”.
“If we acknowledge the importance of
our older Australians, we need to make
sure that their later years are good years,”
Albanese said.
“[The strategy] will outline a plan to help
Australians in their final years of paid work,
to build the nest egg that will let them
retire when and how they want.”
Albanese took the current crop of
government ministers to task for their
ageist language and attitudes.
“The government talks of the elderly as
though they are a burden – an ‘economic
time bomb’, to quote Josh Frydenberg.
“When Scott Morrison was treasurer,
he tried cutting the age pension in every
budget – and he succeeded in cutting
it for 370,000 Australians in 2015 by
changing the assets test,” Albanese said.
The Opposition leader reaffirmed Labor’s
pledge from the last election campaign
to enact a dental plan for pensioners.
He also said that a Labor government
would fund better pay for the aged
care workforce and better long-term
planning to ensure transport networks,
homes, shops and community facilities
are accessible and fit for ageing.
Albanese also criticised the
government’s response to the royal
commission interim report and
said that the ACAT system won’t be
privatised under his leadership.
“Our aged care system is broken – and
this government wants to make it worse
by subjecting ACAT to the indifference
of the market. There is a role for the
market. But markets have no conscience.
“The government must abandon its
plans immediately. It must act on the royal
commission recommendations.”
COTA chief executive Ian Yates
welcomed Albanese’s recognition of the
valuable contribution of older Australians
to the community and applauded his
acknowledgement that a 3 per cent
increase in workforce participation by
Australians aged 55-plus would grow the
economy by $33 billion per year.
“Mr Albanese is absolutely correct that
older Australians are a diverse group of
people who cannot be treated all the
same,” Yates said.
“They require a diverse policy response
that addresses issues across employment,
health, finance, care, welfare and industrial
relations, which I expect Labor’s proposed
Positive Ageing Strategy would address.
“However, one point on which we
disagree with the Opposition leader is
characterising the federal government’s
planned single aged care assessment
system as ‘privatisation’, and we will
discuss this with Labor.
“A single consumer-focused professional
national assessment service with
many local access points has been
recommended for years by successive
reviews and by COTA and the National
Aged Care Alliance.
“This is an essential front door for a
reformed aged care system.”
Albanese ended his speech by telling
the crowd that his drive to fix our attitudes
towards the elderly and the aged care
system comes from his mother.
“Having seen what my mum went
through in her later years, I want to be able
to make a difference for older Australians
now, and the older Australians of the
future,” he said.
“Mum raised me on her own. She was
a strong woman with a great mind and
a huge heart. She gave so much. But
she experienced years of sickness and
struggle. She died too young at just 65.
“I can’t go back in time to fix things
for Mum. But, with planning, vision and
just some of the spirit that defines our
older Australians, we can take care of
the future.” ■
agedcareinsite.com.au
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