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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-22 Daily Xml
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ACCESSIBLE TAXI SERVICES

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:34): I note that today's announcement by the government of its assessment of the effectiveness of provision of access cabs to the disabled and frail aged just confirms to me, and I am sure to other members, how out of touch and remote the government is as to the real situation. To reinforce that by a statement here in the parliament today that there has been something like a 97 per cent compliance with the trips undertaken on Christmas Day by access cabs 2011, when there has been complete ignorance of the hundreds of people, probably thousands, who could not get on the list to make a booking for an access cab, highlights the remoteness in which they sit from the real world.

Unquestionably, the disabled and frail aged, who I am proud to represent as an advocate on behalf of the opposition, are left stranded. I say this from personal knowledge. Just last year, on the Christmas Day that has been referred to by the minister, I tried to arrange an access cab to pick up my grandmother from her nursing home to take her to the Mary Potter Hospice to visit my mother. I could not book an access cab on that day–not available weeks out.

I managed to organise to get an access cab the week before so that she could visit my mother, who was her only daughter, who ultimately died on Christmas night. Since then my grandmother has passed away. These people are real people who affect all of us, and I am sure every member in this house has relatives who rely on these services. To come into the parliament today and tell us that there has been a compliance with those that have been booked and ignore the extraordinary unmet need out there is very, very concerning, because it just tells me that, as we approach Christmas 2011, hundreds of people out there are going to be in exactly that position. My mother and my grandmother will not have a chance to get an access cab again, ever, anyway, but there are other people out there whom I will continue to advocate for to make sure they do.

The other matter I note with concern today is the publication of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre. They point out to us the very damning indictment of how the cost of living is affecting our aged and how inadequate we are in the governments we have in supporting that. The price of electricity and gas is increasing, they tell us, at four times the inflation rate, and medical services are increasing at twice the inflation rate.

Older people, they tell us, spend a higher proportion of their income on essential services that are identified in the report and, therefore, are more vulnerable to the cost of living pressure. What is most alarming is the report to us that 750,000 older Australians in inner households in Australia are spending at least half their income on three essential items: food and groceries, gas and electricity, and healthcare.

The cost of living pressures severely impact older people's ability to participate in community and social activities. This is a future where a weight of debt is about to descend upon these people, to be hit like a tsunami when it comes to the added advantage of what the federal government is going to give. The federal government has introduced a carbon tax, as if these people do not have enough to bear—a carbon tax supported by this government which will not even show us the documents of the extra costing to this state as a result of the introduction of that carbon tax. It is too scared to. It knows it is a problem.

Every other state in Australia has prepared these reports and has worked on their budgets, but what happens in South Australia? We are not even allowed to see the report that has been done. We are told, 'Wait until the Mid-Year Budget Review.' Well, hello! We in South Australia are now needing to provide for our most vulnerable, the aged and disabled, the people who are on limited and low incomes, and they deserve some support. Already, they are the highest users of our health services in this state. We all know what an appalling situation that is for public health in this state.

Except where babies are born in a few of our hospitals in South Australia, the average age of inpatients in our hospitals is 75 to 85 years of age. That should tell us and remind us here in this house of the importance of reminding our government how important this service is to our aged people. They must have access to those services. They are under constant threat at the federal level of having their private insurance rebate taken away. For goodness sake, let us give them a merry Christmas and a decent provision while they are here.

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