SUBJECTS: Failures of the Morrison Government during COVID-19; Labor’s policy agenda; Federal election; Novak Djokovic; crisis in the aged care sector; rapid antigen tests; refugees; Yang Hengjun.
 
SALLY SITOU, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR REID: I want to welcome everyone to this wonderful community. And I want to thank Frank and his team for hosting us. But more importantly, for the work that they do every day to look after our older residents. We have all had to carry a heavy burden because of this pandemic. But our frontline workers, including our aged care workers, have had to carry the heaviest burden. And we as a society owe them an incredible debt. So, I want to thank you. Over the past week, a team of volunteers and I have been making calls to local older residents to check in on them and see how they're doing during this current COVID crisis. And the stories that I have heard are devastating. We heard about an older gentleman who had started to experience COVID symptoms but was unable to call through to his GP because there was simply inundated. We heard from a woman whose husband had been sent to RPA Hospital the night before because of the severity of his COVID symptoms. And we heard from so many people about the challenges that they've been facing, trying to access rapid antigen tests. This current COVID wave has touched everyone. But the common theme in these conversations that we've been having was a deep level of frustration but a real determination to look out for each other. I was deeply moved by so many of the stories that we heard about neighbours checking in on each other, giving people rapid antigen tests that needed it, charity organisations that were dropping off food hampers to those who had COVID and were needing to self-isolate. Our community has had to step up and support each other because of the failures of this Government. At every step of this pandemic, this Government has failed to plan ahead. And now, we are all suffering the consequences of that. And the consequences are most acutely felt in the aged care sector. It was devastating last year to hear about the number of aged care residents who died as a result of COVID. Grandparents, parents, loved ones, many of whom died alone, isolated in their rooms. But we are now again in a situation where the aged care sector is collapsing under the Omicron wave. It is not only devastating, it's infuriating. And that is why I'm so thankful for the tireless work of Anthony Albanese and Clare O'Neil in shining an unrelenting spotlight on the failures of this Government. Anthony and Clare have provided the compassion and commitment that the aged care sector deserves. So thank you.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks very much, Sally, and I want to thank Frank for welcoming us here as well at the Royal Free Masons Benevolent Institution facility here in Rhodes, in the Inner West of Sydney. You are doing an extraordinary job. And the workers here, it was an opportunity to say thank you to them who've been going beyond what could be expected of anybody, who are working day after day, extra hours, because of the gaps that have needed to be filled because of their co-workers testing positive, working under such incredible pressure.
 
Today is the worst day of the New South Wales pandemic. Today, we've seen 36 deaths. That's 36 people lost. That's 36 families who've been impacted by losing a loved one. And it is, of course, a great tragedy that in the last week alone we've seen 165 deaths here in New South Wales. People weren't celebrating 'Freedom Day' last month. People were preparing for what was anticipated. Frank and the association wrote to the Minister not once, not twice, but three times over recent months, warning about the consequences of opening up and the preparations that were required in the aged care sector. And yet we just haven't seen a response. In too many areas, there are a lack of rapid antigen tests. That means that our elderly loved ones have been left isolated, often feeling alone and confused because they don't know why it is that they've been isolated, unable to see loved ones, unable to see the workers who are looking after them. These circumstances have been tragic. They follow the crisis that has been there in the aged care sector over the last eight years. A crisis that led to a Royal Commission which was titled, the interim report, 'Neglect', a Royal Commission that found that half of aged care residents were literally starving, weren't getting enough nutrition for what they required. Now, we know that a number of centres, talking to the residents here today, are doing fantastic work in looking after people. And what we need to do is to lift the entire sector up to best practice so that our elderly get the respect in their later years and the dignity that they deserve. The truth is, though, that the number of aged care centres with a COVID outbreak has more than doubled in recent days. There are now over a thousand centres who have an aged care outbreak. No one in aged care is taking wickets with the virus. People in aged care are really suffering. And when people saw Scott Morrison there on TV being flippant, saying, 'We're living with COVID, we're taking wickets with the virus', they’re entitled to be quite angry and frustrated at the failure of this Government to put in place the mechanisms that were required, to put in place proper testing regimes to look after the workforce, to look after the residents, to get away from the rhetorical position that Scott Morrison was so determined that everything would be back to normal by Christmas. Well, it just didn't reflect the health advice, it didn't reflect the advice from operators such as the Freemasons, who run this aged care centre. And what we needed from the Prime Minister at that time was leadership. No one wants to lockdowns. No one wants any restrictions more than are absolutely necessary. What they want is preparation. What they want is planning based upon health advice. Because that will produce better outcomes. You can't have better economic outcomes unless you get better health outcomes. And that's why the economy now is really, really struggling. But with this Government, the truth is that in so many communities, it is easier to get COVID than it is to find a rapid antigen test. And that's not good enough. This Prime Minister is characterised by always waiting for a problem to become a crisis before he acts. What I say is, we need to actually do this better. We need to plan ahead. We need to listen to the advice. And I'm very pleased to be here today with Sally, who's done such a remarkable job as our Labor candidate for Reid, but also Clare O'Neil, who's doing good work making sure that we're prepared for a better aged care system in the future, one that looks at post-COVID and how we get the structures right. How do we provide appropriate support for the workforce? How do we examine the recommendations of the Royal Commission so that older Australians can get the care and dignity in their later years that they deserve? They've built this country. We should respect them. We should give them the dignity that they're entitled to in their later years. And I would ask Clare to make some comments.
 
CLARE O’NEIL, SHADOW MINISTER FOR SENIOR AUSTRALIANS AND AGED CARE SERVICES: Thanks, everyone. I just want to make a couple of comments about how we ended up where we are today. Because the truth is that well before COVID, aged care was already in crisis. That is the result of eight years of funding cuts and disgraceful neglect of senior Australians. We had a Royal Commission that went for two years that showed us that up to two thirds of aged care residents are today malnourished, they're literally starving under the care of their own Government. Now, when you lay a pandemic and then Omicron onto the top of that, you have the situation we're in today, which is an aged care centre in profound and deep trouble. The centre of aged care revolves around the incredible 300,000 odd people who look after senior Australians around our country. We've met three amazing aged care workers this morning. You will not find more committed people in this country than this workforce of predominantly women who do the difficult and complex work of caring for our senior Australians. Yet today, these people are paid less than someone who stacks shelves in a supermarket. We have a crisis in the aged care workforce. And Omicron has simply laid that bear for all to see. Now, as Australians, we're going to have a big choice in the election coming up soon. And that is for us all to think about whether we are happy for our Government in Canberra to treat senior Australians with such despicable neglect. I think we can do a lot better. And that's the type of opposition and future Government that Anthony Albanese is leading. I want to invite Frank to say a few words. Frank runs the centre here, and a number across Sydney. He has been talking about workforce issues with the Government for a long time. We're not here because Frank's political. He's not a political person. But I want you to hear straight from the horse's mouth about what the impact is on the ground of the crisis that besets this sector today.
 
FRANK PRICE, CEO OF RFBI: Thank you, Sally. Thank you, Clare. Thank you, Anthony. Thank you for taking the time to come out and listen to aged care. Clare is right. I am not political. I've only got one agenda. And that is what is best for our aged care residents. And what's best for our aged care residents is to have a very strong aged care industry. I'm quite fortunate that I've got 22 locations throughout New South Wales and the ACT where our staff really do care, our management really does care, our families acknowledge it, and our residents acknowledge it. But geez, we're trying to hold back the tide. We've seen the problem with workforce for a number of years. As Anthony mentioned, I have written to the Minister on three occasions. And unfortunately, waiting for the borders to open so that we'll have a workforce is not the answer. We've got to do two things. We need to grow our own, that is a medium to long-term solution. The immediate solution is that we need to bring some workforce into the country to fill that gap. We are 20,000 shy right now. And we're looking at about 17,000 per year for each year for the next 10 years. What I do want to say is today's the first day that this facility is out of lockdown, where we had an outbreak. Quite fortunate that no resident became ill. Our workforce has been working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. Our guests were able to meet three of those people. They're tired. But you know what? The entire aged care industry is tired. All of Australia is tried. But unlike your local café that can close them if they don't have enough barristas or your airlines that can cancel a flight, we've got to keep providing the service 24/7. Every single day, our residents rely upon us. We are their families, we are their home, and we do our best. I do want to say that the other area that I'm very proud of our organisations is what we do besides the clinical side, we provide incredible food. Our staff, they're all looking forward to our happy hour on Friday. And I think Clare will be back on Friday to partake in that. It can be done. There's a lot of good aged care providers out there. I think 99 per cent of providers are great. But they need the support. And I think 99 and a half per cent of our workforce is astounding. But they need support. So I'm hoping that will come sooner rather than later. Thank you.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Frank. Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: As we’ve heard today from Frank, he’s taken it upon himself to get rapid antigen tests for the centres. Do you believe that businesses should be paying the cost of rapid tests for workers who can’t work from home?
 
ALBANESE: I think Government should be providing rapid antigen tests across the economy. We know that the failure to have rapid antigen tests in good supply and available to all has meant economic constraint. It has cost jobs, it has cost economic activity. We know that's the case. And we know also that if you want to get a PCR test, you do it through Medicare. We should have rapid antigen tests available for all through Medicare, through our healthcare system. It shouldn't be reliant upon Frank, and what this organisation did well in advance, to their great credit, was they ordered the tests in advance so that their workers can be tested. But for a whole lot of businesses, that just is impossible. And for a whole lot of small businesses, it's particularly difficult. And it's meaning that workers are staying at home. It's meaning that supermarket shelves are empty, child care centres are being closed, some aged care centres are seeing elderly residents isolated, and hospitality businesses are either opening shorter hours or aren't opening at all. There are real consequences for the economy in the failure of the Federal Government to step up here. If PCR tests, at a cost of around about $80, are free, why is it that rapid antigen tests, at less than one tenth the cost of that, are not about?
 
JOURNALIST: Should rapid antigen tests be tax deductible for businesses?
 
ALBANESE: Well, rapid antigen tests should be available to businesses in order to keep those businesses going. The cost to the economy of businesses not being able to engage in economic activity is less tax revenue to the Government. The cost of workers being unable to work, self-contractors, is a cost to the economy. The fact that our truck drivers aren't able to deliver goods and there are the shortages in the supply chain, means that there is a cost to the economy. And Josh Frydenberg and the Government seem oblivious to this. Completely oblivious. They were happy to give businesses who were increasing their profits, who were substantially engaged in increased economic activity, JobKeeper with no strings attached. And many of those businesses used that money to increase their profits to give increased dividends to shareholders and bonuses to executives. But they're not happy to give rapid antigen tests, to make them available. And there's a cost to this. And the cost of purchasing on bulk as well, is obviously a lot cheaper. That's why the Biden administration is doing that, the Johnson administration is. If you go to Singapore, you can get easy access to rapid antigen tests. In places in Europe, for those people who do have to pay, it's 99 Euro cents in many countries. Here in Australia, I know someone who paid $180 for five tests and is awaiting them to arrive online. And in so many places, what you have is people who need to be tested are going from pharmacy to pharmacy, supermarket to supermarket. Guess what? That's not safe. What's safe is getting people tested so they know and can have the confidence that they can go about their activity.
 
JOURNALIST: There's a range of views in National Cabinet on surveillance testing in schools. Does Federal Labor think this is necessary or not?
 
ALBANESE: Well, we want schools, of course, to go back when it's safe. And what's important with these measures is that we take the health advice. And here we have a circumstance whereby the New South Wales Government is saying that they will test people in schools in order to keep the schools going. It's common sense to use rapid antigen tests to keep activity going. That seems to me to be common sense. If it's based on health advice, then that's a sensible thing. People should take the health advice. And governments should be doing that. The truth is, though, for so many people, they simply haven't had access to rapid antigen tests. It is just extraordinary that, three years into the pandemic, it is easier in some communities to catch COVID than it is to catch a RAT.
 
JOURNALIST: Down in Melbourne in the Park Hotel, should the refugees in the Park Hotel, where Novak Djokovic was briefly held, be released into the community (inaudible)?
 
ALBANESE: These things should be dealt with on a case by case basis, obviously. But I do note that the Prime Minister misled yesterday, completely misled, when he said that a number of people who have been in detention for a long period of time weren't refugees. In fact, a number of people have been found to be refugees. And Australia has obligations to treat people humanely.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you believe they should be settled?
 
ALBANESE: Well, people should look at individual cases. And there are a range of cases. But for people who have been found to be refugees, they shouldn't be kept in detention indefinitely without a solution being found. There's an economic cost to that as well. So a case by case basis needs to be examined, obviously. But Australia is a country that has obligations. And Australia is a country that should treat people properly. And people shouldn't be in detention indefinitely. That was never what was envisaged.
 
JOURNALIST: There are concerns about the health of democracy advocate, Yang Hengjun, who has been detained in China for three years. What can or should the Government be doing to pursue his release?
 
ALBANESE: Well, he should be released. And there needs to be transparency with regard to it and procedural fairness. And the Australian Government doesn't believe that has occurred, and I agree with them. Australia should be making the strongest representations possible to ensure that he receives the appropriate legal processes and care, which means that he should be released. You don't have transparency here. He's been in detention for some time. And Australian citizens should enjoy the support of the Australian Government. And indeed, I do note that this certainly isn't a partisan issue. In general, our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are very good at providing that support for Australians when they need it.
 
JOURNALIST: Just going back to what you were on earlier, do you back the ACTU's push for businesses to cover the cost of rapid antigen tests, given the Government won't make them free?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I've said that these tests should be free. That's Labor's position. And they should be made available to people so that the economy can function, so that people can go to work and so that they can do so safely.
 
ENDS