Department of Health says decision to bail out struggling Victorian aged care home “was made by the government not the department”.
The federal government gave an “unprecedented” $400,000 to a Victorian aged care home in the electorate of Nationals MP Damien Drum, while other financially stressed homes in ALP electorates missed out.
The 40-bed Murchison Community Care home had to shut down despite the cash injection, with residents relocated and staff made redundant.
The ALP said the government needed to answer questions about the process that led to the grant being given
Labor’s shadow aged care minister, Julie Collins, said it was “deeply concerning” that residents had been forced out of the Murchison nursing home despite the “unprecedented funding”.
“The Morrison government must come clean on why it has provided this unprecedented funding while other nursing homes across the country at risk of closure have not,” she said.
“The care of vulnerable older Australians in rural and regional Australia must be above politics.”
The Department of Health told the Senate the decision to provide financial assistance to the Murchison centre was made by the government, not the department.
“This was a decision of government. The department has not provided funding of this specific nature before,” the department said in response to a question on notice.