May slams minister

The Shadow Minister for Ageing says Justine Elliot is taking credit for Coalition policies and remains “out of touch”.

The Shadow Minister for Ageing has quesioned the performance of Justine Elliot, saying she was “out of touch” with the aged care industry.

Margaret May’s comments came after the minister outlined the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency’s program of unannounced visits in parliament.

The minister called on the opposition to provide bipartisan support for the “tough measures” and re-stated her commitment to a more transparent and accountable industry.

But Mrs May said the minister was taking credit for a Coalition initiative.

“Unannounced visits were initiated under the Howard Government, along with a number of other key initiatives, such as accreditation and certification, to ensure that Australia has a world class aged care system,” Mrs May said.

The shadow minister also accused Mrs Elliot of making misleading claims about increases to the number of unannounced visits back in March.

“[At the time], Minister Elliot announced that she intended to increase the number of unannounced visits from 4,000 to 7,000 visits,” said Mrs May.

“The Minister should come clean on her attempts to fudge the numbers.

“The extra 3,000 visits the Minister claims are occurring are actually a combination of announced and unannounced visits. This is not an increase of 3,000 unannounced visits as claimed by the Minister.”

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