Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck should be on the chopping block, Senate estimates has heard, thanks to the unfolding crisis in residential aged care as Omicron cases surge.
But Colbeck will not resign — he’s avoided calling the escalating deaths and issues of understaffing a “crisis”, and has been put on the back foot, lashing out at Labor Senate committee members over death statistics, lack of preparedness, and booster doses.
It was revealed that since the beginning of COVID, 1358 aged care residents have died from the virus — 691 of those occurred this year.
Labor Senator Murray Watt questioned whether Colbeck was the unnamed minister being sacked, with the Ten Network reporting last night that one minister was about to be let go.
“[There was] the headline Scott Morrison is getting ready to sack one of his scandal-plagued ministers. After everything we’ve seen in aged care, shouldn’t that be you?” he asked.
“How can anyone have confidence in you?”
Instead of addressing the concerns, Colbeck shot back, accusing Labor and the Greens of “political point-scoring” over their line of questioning. He said Labor hasn’t put forward an exact figure to increase the minimum wage for the aged care workforce and refused to say there was a crisis in the system, saying he had been “very careful with his language”.
“I don’t accept the deaths in the community or deaths in aged care is an indicator [of personal failure],” Colbeck said.
“We are in the centre of a global pandemic and the completely tragic result of that is that people will catch the virus across all parts of humanity, and tragically some of them will die.”
As revealed earlier this month, 80,000 residents haven’t received booster shots; residents are missing out on food, water, and medical care for wounds; and one-quarter of shifts in aged care facilities aren’t being filled — totalling 140,000 shifts per week.
The government told the Senate estimates 73.4% of eligible aged and disability care residents have received a booster dose.
In not fronting the aged care COVID-19 inquiry earlier this month, Colbeck said: “Would I have been better off actually trying to deal with the issues and the pandemic or talking to the committee about it? I would rather have been actually dealing with the issues,” he said.
He had skipped the inquiry to attend a Test cricket match in Tasmania and is on an annual salary of $332,720 a year plus allowances. In September 2020, the Senate passed a no confidence censure motion against Colbeck due to his handling of aged care.
In response to allegations of poor care, Colbeck said that families, instead of going to the media, should put their concerns over the care their loved ones were receiving to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
While he dodged many questions, Colbeck agreed the government had made mistakes around bolstering the workforce at the beginning of the pandemic. He also said the sector’s performance has improved over the pandemic.
There’s a very competitive field for the title of this government’s most disgraceful minister but even in such illustrious company Colbeck’s performance is outstanding.
I must agree. I was just thinking that it’s good that labor (or anybody) scored some points off Colbeck’s performance because nobody would award him any.
The Libs are certainly going to need the preferences of the unbelievable coal miner to achieve another miracle .
Yes, Colbeckland’s a dismal place,
a world where there is little trace
of competence, yet, sad to say,
the minister won’t go away,
but keeps on saying “Don’t blame me,
it’s not my fault, there seems to be
a great big fog that’s so darn thick
that I can’t see which path to pick,
and so I stumble here and there
without arriving anywhere.”
So aged care’s in a sorry mess,
a source of family distress
as residents sit round and wait
for vaccinations while their fate
depends on someone who’s just got
vague promises, which, like as not,
will vanish in that swirling mist,
mere words for adding to the list
of failures with this hopeless mob
who simply cannot do the job.
Over $300K per annum… for what?
Even if he was doing his job – Australian politicians are waaaaayyyy overpaid. And no-one come with the old ‘we have to attract talent’ chestnut. Because if that’s ‘the best and the brightest’ Australia has one serious problem: it’s a country where apparently the best on offer are lazy, contemptible idiots. Which I don’t believe it to be. It’s a country that produced the likes of Withlam and Ted Mack, for goodness sake!
So how do we get people of that quality back into politics? Money is clearly not the way. But how do we change that? No current or currently aspiring politician will change the way things are. They’re all way too invested in their own fortunes.
i think we need a revolution.
Richard Colbeck – “I don’t accept the deaths in the community or deaths in aged care is an indicator [of personal failure],” Colbeck said. Then who’s fault is it Richard? Because I am sure that the electorate, and especially those who have lost loved ones recently, since the start of 2022, would hold you directly responsible being the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services. Or did Scomo throw you under the bus by promising and underdelivering yet again???
The deaths in aged care is only part of the problem caused by the supposedly milder Omicron.
All up there have been over 2,200 deaths mostly of people over 60 from Omicron since the first case on the 27th December 2021.
These deaths lay firmly at the feet of the pol;iticians who thought that they would make themselves some sort of hero by firstly holding a Covid party in NSW from the 15th December and then threw open the borders almost as if to ensure that Omicron would spread far and wide.
Scott Morrison, Greg Hunt and all the premiers went along with this madness are responsible for all these deaths over a 8 week period!
Shame on you all.
I totally agree with you Ratty, I am in that expendable group of old timers and feel your anger and frustration.
I must point out, however, that not all Premiers have gone along with this ship of fools of the Federal kind. We (the majority that is) in West are very grateful in having an independent and very resourceful State Government. They have taken their responsibility for the safety and well being of the citizens of WA seriously and they have succeeded. The Federal Government despite all their bluster otherwise have failed dismally.
Not all the premiers went along with it.