GRAEME DAY, HOST: Healthcare, aged healthcare, is very important. And as we get older in the listing area, we need more aged care beds. Well, the Albanese Government is going to be delivering that. In fact, they've pinpointed the listing area, the Illawarra, as one of the areas they’re going to invest in as far as aged care beds are concerned. On the line, I've got the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, that is Sam Rae, and it's a very good morning to you, Minister.
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: Good morning, Graeme. Thank you for having me on.
DAY: No problems at all. Some pretty exciting news, and I know that many people along the Illawarra will be welcoming this news as far as the Albanese Government backing more aged care beds.
RAE: Graeme, we want every Australian to be able to access safe, dignified and high-quality aged care, no matter where they live. As we know, the Illawarra and the Shoalhaven are particularly beautiful parts of the country and we have lots of people, often in retirement, choosing to move there. Unfortunately, along with an ageing population that has put pressure on aged care services locally. So today we're announcing $115 million to be shared across four hotspots, which include the Illawarra and the Hunter regions in New South Wales as well as metropolitan Adelaide and metropolitan Perth to unlock projects and to get new aged care beds online as soon as possible.
DAY: It's very important, from my own experience, when you go along to an emergency ward, whether it be in the Southern Highlands, whether you be in the Shoalhaven, there seems to be a lot of beds in the emergency wards taken up with elderly people. And that causes a lot of strain for the staff, and it's because there's not enough beds in aged care facilities.
RAE: Well Graeme respectfully, I think we just need to be a little bit careful here. We know that delayed discharge in the hospital system is a long-standing and complex issue across the country, and this investment will certainly help take some of that pressure off. But we also need to acknowledge that hospitals are the places that people need to go when they're sick and they’re in need of medical attention, and older people have a right to be there as much as anyone else. But you're absolutely right to refer to it in the sense that part of getting more beds online will mean that those people who get stuck in the hospital system for a longer time than they need to be can get out of there quicker.
DAY: Now with this system, how does it work for those aged care providers to get access to some of this money?
RAE: We'll be opening an expression of interest process over the coming weeks. We want to do this rapidly. We've gone through great lengths to design the program as well as to understand what options might be out there across the community. And I've spent time in the Illawarra. We've got some fantastic federal members of parliament that represent the Illawarra and the Shoalhaven. I'll give a big shout out to Fiona Phillips, Alison Byrnes and Carol Berry. These are my colleagues who speak to me on a daily or weekly basis about what the community's needs are. So we'll open up the expression of interest process. We'll try and understand all of the opportunities that exist across the Illawarra region, and then we'll make investments in the projects that are going to get the best bang for buck for the community.
DAY: Well, it's big news, and it's welcome news, as I said. Thanks so much your time this morning, and if people want to find out more information, they can go along to the offices of the members that you just mentioned. But thanks for your time.
RAE: Thank you, Graeme. Take care.
HOST: Sam Rae, who's the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. There's some good news, $115 million going into aged care in the Illawarra area – and we certainly need that, don't we?