Thread by @the_shb

Aged Care Minister Colbeck said he was "shocked" by the neglect revealed in the #agedcarerc Interim Report.

He insisted providers were "doing well across the board" in May, and made no federal COVID aged care plan.

At what point does naiveté become incompetence? #auspol

Remember, Colbeck is part of the government that CALLED the #agedcarerc due to systemic neglect - yet he had the gall to claim he was "shocked" by the findings of its interim report.

If he were across his portfolio, NOTHING in that report should have shocked him. #auspol

Colbeck has made no inroads in the three areas of "urgent action" identified by @RoyalAged:

- young ppl w/ disabilities trapped in aged care
- over-reliance on chemical and physical restraint
- 100k+ older Australians languishing on the home care waitlist #auspol #agedcarerc

As far as I can tell, Colbeck's major contribution to his aged care portfolio last year was to stealthily try to privatise the ACAT workforce - the aged care assessment teams - on Christmas Eve, at the lowest ebb of the news cycle, without so much as a press release #auspol

Colbeck has been nowhere to be seen for most of the duration of the Royal Commission. He indicated during Question Time last year that he was unfamiliar with one of the key statistics from its Interim Report, leading many to question if he had even read it #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck has been an absentee as COVID has marched through aged care in Australia, and it was revealed in today's Royal Commission hearings that he didn't even have a national COVID plan for aged care providers in place in spite of the horrific outcomes at Newmarch House #auspol

One of his few press releases in the past months was relating to his other portfolio - Sports - where he announced federal government funding a broadcasting initiative with FOXTEL.

During a PANDEMIC. AS THE AGED CARE MINISTER #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck said in May that "across the board" aged care providers were doing "quite well" - a wilfully naive statement made during the Newmarch House crisis in which 19 died.

He learned no lessons from Newmarch or the horrific scenarios playing out in aged care overseas. #auspol

Time and again he has shown he has providers' interests at heart. He is presently playing PR spin doctor for providers by refusing to disclose location of COVID outbreaks in care due to concerns about doing "repetitional damage" to providers. #auspol #agedcarerc

Put simply: an Aged Care Minister who plays corporate shill for a chronically neglectful aged care sector is fundamentally unfit for the role. I don't know if Colbeck is auditioning for a future board role with an aged care provider, but it sure looks like it to me. #auspol