Labor calls for Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to be sacked, after he was compelled by the Senate to explain the Government's handling of coronavirus in aged care homes.
Labor has ramped up calls for Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to be sacked, after he was compelled by the Senate to explain the Government's handling of coronavirus in aged care homes.Richard Colbeck was compelled by the Senate to provide an explanation of the Government's handling of the pandemicSenator Colbeck was not present to hear the call for his head from Labor's Senate Leader, Penny Wong, having left the chamber after delivering the statement.
"For us, this has never been about politics, the operation of the National Cabinet demonstrates that. "I have been working every day with the aged care sector, providers, staff and families to ensure that these people in care, those who first cared for us, receive the highest level of protection … for this, I am accountable."Watch
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Labor pushes PM to remove aged care minister following coronavirus response | Sky News AustraliaLabor is calling for the Prime Minister to remove Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck amid backlash against the federal government’s aged care response to the coronavirus crisis. \n\nShadow Ageing and Seniors Minister Julie Collins said Mr Colbeck was “losing public confidence and Australians need to know that the aged care minister is up to the job and frankly we don’t think he is at the moment”. \n\nMs Collins told Sky News the minister did not do enough to adapt to the situation despite “warning bells” from the coronavirus situation in the northern hemisphere and the Dorothy Henderson Lodge outbreak in April.\n\n“To say that the missteps were that he didn’t have the figures on Friday I think is a bit of an understatement, the missteps are that we have 353 residents who have died in aged care facilities,” she said. \n\n“At the moment we’re getting these sort of half-hearted sorrys about things that have happened but we’re not getting very clear about what they did wrong and how they’re fixing it.\n\n“When there’s community transmission you expect outbreaks, but what you expect is the federal government to have done its job and learnt the lessons of the outbreaks in NSW, that clearly didn’t happen.” \n\nImage: News Corp Australia \n\n\n
Read more »
Labor Party attacking federal government with ‘blatant lies’ about aged care | Sky News AustraliaAssistant Finance Minister Zed Seselja says the Labor Party are attacking the federal government with “blatant lies” in relation to aged care.\n\nDuring federal parliament in Canberra on Wednesday Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese called out the federal government about outcomes regarding aged care.\n\n“What we saw in question time today, both the house and the senate was … very dishonest attacks by the Labor Party,” Mr Seselja told Sky News host Chris Kenny.\n\n“If they’re genuinely concerned about keeping the government accountable they wouldn’t need to resort to blatant lies.\n\n“(They claimed) that we’ve cut aged care when there’s been a significant massive increase in the commitment and the spending on aged care support under our government.”\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
Shadow Health Minister calls on PM to 'fess up' to aged care cuts | Sky News AustraliaShadow Health Minister Chris Bowen has called on the Prime Minister to “fess up” and admit to cutting aged care funding during his time as Treasurer.\n\nMr Bowen said the Morrison government's budget papers did not reflect its claim aged care spending increased by $1 billion each year over the past 10 years.\n\nThe Shadow Health Minister said it would be better for the Prime Minister to admit the inefficiencies and cuts which had been made and “then we could have a discussion about how we fix that”.\n\n“When you won’t acknowledge a problem you can’t fix it,” he said.\n\n“Scott Morrison won’t acknowledge the aged care cuts, therefore he won’t fix them.”\n\nOpposition Leader Anthony Albanese is expected to outline Labor's eight-point plan to fix the aged care sector on Thursday.\n\n“What Anthony’s doing is recognising that aged care is a federal responsibility and it’s up to the Prime Minister and the alternative Prime Minister to accept that and not only to accept it but embrace it with a plan,” the Shadow Health Minister said. \n\n“Scott Morrison has had no plan when it comes to aged care and COVID-19 … apart from cutting funds.”\n\nIn contrast, Mr Bowen said the Opposition Leader had developed a plan which would focus on resources, training and workforce.
Read more »
'Labor's games will not change a thing for vulnerable Australians': Aged Care Minister | Sky News AustraliaAged Care Minister Richard Colbeck has outlined and defended the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis in the nation’s troubled aged care sector amid criticisms of ill-preparedness. \n\nSpeaking to the Senate, Mr Colbeck insisted “I have been there, we have been there, every step of the way every day … we have not stopped planning, adapting and implementing”. \n\n“For us this has never been about politics, the operation of the national cabinet demonstrates that,” he said. \n\n“Labor can have their ‘gotcha’ moments, they can ridicule and show disrespect to our most senior medical officials on the use of language at COVID meetings. \n\n“Labor’s games will not change a thing for the Australians who need our help the most.”\n\nThe Minister said he worked closely with his Victorian counterpart during the health crisis and had reached out to multiple Labor MPs to assist them in identifying coronavirus outbreaks in their electorates. \n\n“Responding to this cruel virus and its impact on communities remains my focus,” Mr Colbeck said. \n\n“We are all ultimately responsible for the decisions made to protect the people we love the most, that is my focus, to deliver the plan to keep senior Australians safe.” \n\nImage: News Corp Australia \n\n\n\n\n
Read more »
Scott Morrison turns fire on Victoria in aged care blame gameIn his strongest attack so far on the state government's performance, the PM slammed the problems with hotel quarantine, contact tracing and virus testing under Premier Daniel Andrews
Read more »
Scott Morrison turns fire on Victoria in aged care blame gamePrime Minister Scott Morrison has blamed “unacceptable” failures in Victoria for deepening the coronavirus crisis as he comes under pressure over his response to deaths in aged care | CroweDM
Read more »