Hansard debates

Ms SHEED (Shepparton) (09:53:49): Let me tell you a story about a little country town that has been outstanding for its community spirit and its dynamism, a town that has looked after its elderly folk. When the bush nursing hospital eventually closed, it became an aged-care facility, which is the hub of this small country town and where its ageing population was welcomed and where they remain closely connected to their community. Family members could easily access the home to visit their ageing loved ones and often at mealtimes went down the street to the home to help feed them and talk to others at the table. It is a home that has been sufficiently staffed. It is a home that has a standard that will not be talked about at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety because there will be no need to. Now that community is being punished for caring for its elderly at a standard above and beyond. This has led to financial ruin, and elderly folk are being transported as we speak to foreign environments away from their own community, isolated from their families and devastated by the confusion and grief of the closure of their local nursing home. The administrators have come in, and they are winding it up now. We cannot let this happen. This is Murchison. We need a government with a heart and soul to step in to save this small community nursing home and give some hope back to the people of a small community in a country town in northern Victoria that is currently in despair.