Older Australians will pay up to $50/hour for basic care at home under Labor's aged care changes coming on November 1 according to reporting from the ABC based on Department of Health data.
Older Australians will be forced to forgo the care they need due to cost.
Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae and Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler reportedly declined to be interviewed in the ABC's story and would not answer direct questions. The government has previously admitted 30% of full pensioners and 75% of part pensioners would pay more under Labor's changes.
Labor have been desperate to hide the true impacts of their aged care policies. It took a Senate inquiry and weeks of pressure just to get straight answers on the true nature of the aged care waitlist, with over 200,000 older Australians waiting for care.
Those revelations eventually lead to the Government's first defeat in the Senate as a successful push from the Greens, crossbench and opposition led to the urgent release of 20,000 home care packages.
As stated by Greens spokesperson for Older People, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
"Under Labor's Aged Care Act the worse your health, the more you'll pay."
"Labor have been keeping older people in the dark about these changes since they passed last year, but it's becoming clearer by the day that these changes aren't about improving care, only about propping up private providers profits."
"The Greens tried to remove co-payments when the bill came through parliament last year and we were the only ones to oppose the new laws."
"The Aged Care Minister Sam Rae needs to stop hiding, come clean about how much he expects older people will pay under the new system and how many people are going to miss out on care."
"Older Australians should be able to access the care they need, not just the care they can afford."
"Labor's bleeding pensioners dry while giving tax-dodging corporations a pass."
