GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Hinkler Electorate: Aged Care
Budget
Mr BATT (Hinkler—Deputy Nationals Whip) (12:53): A hospice delivers a special kind of care: end of life care. A hospice provides an environment that feels like home with a focus on dignity, comfort and compassion. This is something everyone deserves. But today I deliver deeply concerning news to parliament that the Fraser Coast Hospice is entering administration. In a statement issued last Friday, the Fraser Coast Hospice Association Board advised that:
Following extensive consideration and ongoing engagement with key stakeholders and funding bodies, the organisation has resolved to appoint an Independent Administrator, with the appointment anticipated to occur on Wednesday 10 June 2026.
It went on to state that the decision not been made lightly but that a funding shortfall above half a million dollars each year was making it almost impossible to keep operating.
Since this announcement, through the local media in Hinkler, on social platforms, at a chamber of commerce dinner and in plenty of correspondence to my electorate offices in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg, it has been extremely heartening to see the immense community support in fighting for the future of this hospice. Not just since Friday but ever since its inception in October 2021, I’ve heard many stories from local families who have directly benefited from the hospice.
Barbara told me that her late husband, John, stayed at the hospice in the days before he died in 2024. John had fought prostate cancer for 15 years. Barbara said that, in his final days at the Fraser Coast Hospice, he was treated with dignity and care and was bathed and shaved each day. There was space for all the family to visit and for Barbara to stay with him when she pleased. The family played his favourite music and shared stories of beautiful memories. The family pets were even welcome to provide company and comfort. Barbara recalls, as the end was near, John was free of pain and did not suffer, thanks to the expertise of the nurses and doctors at the Fraser Coast Hospice.
Barbara tells me that something must be done to retain this important service, not just in the short term but for years to come. Only last week, here in this place, I pledged my support for this very hospice. Last month I toured the facility and had a barbecue with the hardworking volunteers. I also attended a fundraiser, where the call went out for more corporate support. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, the funding shortfall has been too much. It would be so sad for my community if this hospice couldn’t be saved. Like Barbara, I am hopeful the administrator will find a way to address current funding challenges and provide confidence around future sustainability.
I commend the CEO and board of the Fraser Coast Hospice for their transparency and compassionate leadership throughout this transition. My thoughts are with the staff and volunteers who have dedicated so much energy towards the success of the hospice. Local representatives from all three levels of government will continue to work hard together, and we are committed to exploring all possible solutions. I note that it was a federal coalition government, through the Hinkler Regional Deal, that provided $7.6 million for construction and initial operational funding for this six-bed hospice, but now we must do everything in our power to ensure that this hospice keeps on providing specialist palliative care, as it has done for hundreds of Fraser Coast families.
In April I met with Lou and Karen from Palliative Care Queensland. I committed my support to do all I can to advocate for improving access and equity of palliative care services, to strengthen the workforce and to find better ways to fund local hospice and community care services. The situation with the Fraser Coast Hospice demonstrates how the current model needs to improve. The news of the Fraser Coast Hospice comes at a time when, in the northern part of my electorate, a separate community hospice group has been busily planning to establish a hospice in Bundaberg, but now they, too, are asking big questions. Given our ageing population, where will the funds for this kind of care come from in the future, and why hasn’t more been done in forward planning?
Hinkler is the third-oldest electorate in the country, with an average age of 49. Almost 40 per cent of my electorate is living with one or more long-term health setbacks. That’s the top ranking in Australia. My community is calling for a fair go, not just when it comes to end-of-life care but for those entering retirement, a period of what should be the golden years. Over-65s are being absolutely forgotten by this Labor government. In my electorate, around 26,300 seniors faced the prospect of private health insurance bills rising more than $800 per year for singles and more than $1,600 per couple. This is because of Labor’s decision to scrap the private health insurance rebate for over-65s. It will leave many older Australians with a difficult choice: cut spending on other essentials, downgrade their cover or drop it all together. I’ve spoken to many people in Hinkler who have worked hard, saved carefully and paid for private health insurance for much of their lives, something that should be praised and encouraged. If people drop private health insurance, it puts more pressure on the public system, which impacts everyone. Broken promises and toxic taxes are not in any way helping the people of Hinkler.
From private health cover concerns, I step into the aged-care crisis. Hundreds—that’s right, hundreds—in Hinkler alone are on waiting lists to enter the aged-care system, but the system is broken. Take the Support at Home options, for example. It’s one thing to get assessed—that could take months. Once approved, you might get reassessed and then wait even longer to start receiving services. Then there’s the cost. The feedback I’m receiving is that it’s simply not making sense. When you can no longer look after yourself at home, you have to make the tough decision to enter an aged-care facility, but there are now waiting lists to get on the waiting lists. Where are the beds?
I told this place six months ago that the demand for beds in Hinkler was dangerously high and rising. Aged-care facilities are being knocked back for new beds. In the country town of Childers, Forest View Care provides residential care. Three times they’ve applied for more beds and more support through the federal government process, only to be told: ‘Sorry, nothing this time. But, please, keep trying.’
There are dementia patients taking up public hospital beds while waiting for permanent aged-care spaces. How could Hinkler not be high on the aged-care priority list for more beds when our statistics show otherwise? It just doesn’t add up. The government’s refusal to accept responsibility is even more concerning, given that Labor’s own aged-care failures are driving much of the pressure on hospitals. The current system isn’t working. The government must change and adapt. Locals and pioneers of Hinkler are the reason we live in such a great place. They shouldn’t be told to move away from their home, away from their family and away from their support just because we can’t find them a bed.
The federal government is failing stranded Australians. You wouldn’t believe it, but this Labor government continues to fail our veterans too. Why won’t this government reverse the decision to cap veterans’ allied health services? Veterans in Bundaberg held a peaceful protest at ANZAC Park on Friday, urging the government to remove the uncertainty and reverse the decision to impose the $5,000 annual cap. More than 80 veterans and their partners have already signed a petition against this cruel cap. Veterans should not be asked to bear the cost of Labor’s budget repair. The result will be veterans going without treatment, their conditions worsening and the commitments falling back on their families and household budgets.
The elderly in their encore years, the vets who fought for our freedom, the ones who want to live their final days in dignity—these are the ones who’ve paid a lifetime of taxes and made sacrifices all along the way. They deserve a fair go, not broken promises, not barriers, not more burdens—a fair go.