Senator FERRIS(3.17) —I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (Senator Herron), to questions without notice asked by Senators Neal and Forshaw today, relating to nursing homes.

We have watched a campaign over the last couple of weeks to deliberately upset the most vulnerable members of our community, the frail aged, and to use them as a cheap political tool in a point scoring exercise by those in opposition.

Let us get some facts on the record in relation to this issue. Australia's aged care sector of the community is in a state of crisis because of 13 years of government neglect, which makes Labor's scare campaign all the more ludicrous and all the more disgraceful. Labor pursued a policy of running down nursing homes, doing nothing about the problem. They left our aged care facilities in a complete mess. Under the Hawke and Keating governments there was a 75 per cent reduction in funding for capital expenditure—a key reason why our nursing homes are now generally in a very poor state. Let us not forget that Mr Beazley, as finance minister, oversaw this very spectacular Labor achievement. Let us get it on the record: it is Labor's fault that nursing homes are in crisis.

Our aging population and increasing health care costs mean that the Australian government must take action to provide a much higher standard and a more acceptable level of accommodation and care for elderly Australians. Labor failed in this area. They shamefully ignored the issue of care for our aged and now they are trying to shift attention away from the mess and onto us.

Let us get some facts and some reality on the record. Income tested fees will begin on 1 March next year, but only for new residents. Residents who are in a nursing home or hostel now, or who enter care before 1 March, will not pay income tested fees. This protection will continue, even if they move to a different facility. If residents have paid higher fees in advance, any overpayment will be refunded. When income testing commences on 1 March for new residents only, their fees will not be affected by assets which they gave away before the aged care reforms were announced on 20 August. This will ensure that people who gifted assets before the reforms were announced will not face difficulties in paying their fees. Of course, hardship provisions will continue to be available for other residents who have genuine difficulty paying their fees.

Current hostel residents will now be protected from the increase in the hostel basic fee to bring it into line with the higher nursing home fees. This change, which took effect on 1 October, will now only affect residents entering hostels after that date. Current hostel residents who are paying the basic daily fee will have the same income left that they had on 30 September, as will hostel residents who are paying the higher variable fees.

Protection for the family home will be improved for accommodation bonds. The home itself will now be protected if a carer who is eligible for a pension or a benefit has lived there for the last two years, rather than for five years, as was previously the case. The family home will also continue to be automatically protected if a partner or dependent child lives there. For other family members, the five-year provision will continue.

The reforms have always provided for residents who can pay a bond a number of alternatives to selling their homes—something that was well known by those opposite but was not used in its dirty political scare campaign. Residents can pay periodically or they can agree to take their accommodation contribution from their estate if they wish. The government has said it will listen to older people's concerns, and it has done so. The evidence is in the announcements made yesterday by the Minister for Family Services (Mr Warwick Smith) in the other place.

This package of changes will ease the transition to the new arrangements and provide additional protections for nursing home and hostel residents. We will continue to listen to suggestions for further options to allow more flexibility while maintaining the integrity of this policy. Unlike those opposite, we will not continue to ignore this sector of the community that was so disgracefully overlooked for 13 years by the Labor government.

Senator Schacht —$200,000 bonds.

Senator FERRIS —Senator Schacht, you are getting closer to it all the time.