Liberal MP describes aged care as handing care to the private sector and a “disaster waiting to happen” as PM slams Victoria’s handling of the COVID crisis

Veteran Liberal MP Russell Broadbent has criticised government’s handling of aged care of the aged care sector and called for more funding for Not For Profit care. Broadbent told The Guardian he had attempted to warn government about vulnerability in the sector for years, but had been ignored completely. “Success governments over 30 years have handed the care of people into the private sector, and that has been a mistake,” said the veteran MP. “Profit became more important than care. This was a disaster waiting to happen.” Broadbent argued government needs to boost funding for Not For Profit providers, “particularly in regional areas” and said resources at the Federal Health Department also needed bolstering as, “there are not enough people on the ground to know what is going on at a local level.”

Prime Minister challenges Victorian response to crisis in face of Albanese criticism

This comes as increased friction on all sides of government provoked the PM to respond to attacks from the opposition leaders, who earlier this week had gone on the offensive. “The leader of the opposition believes that in Victoria there is nothing going on when it comes to community transmission," Mr Morrison said. “There has been no failure of quarantine, there has been no failure of tracing – the leader of the opposition seems to think that everything is OK in Victoria and there have only been challenges in aged care.” The Prime Minister also insisted that Australia handled the aged care crisis better than other countries, with only 8% of homes experiencing outbreaks, compared to 56% in Britain.