Senator CHANDLER (Tasmania) (18:02): Thank you, Senator Siewert, for your applause for this government and its work in the mental health space with regard to aged care. I will keep that applause; it will warm the cockles of my heart. Senator Siewert: Take the criticism that goes with it! Senator CHANDLER: I was about to say there were a few other things that you said that I didn't necessarily agree with, but the applause is much appreciated. This government, the Morrison coalition government, is delivering record investment across the aged-care system, and, in rising on this matter of public importance tonight, I would like to commend the efforts of the aged-care minister, Richard Colbeck, who is one of my colleagues from the great state of Tasmania. Senator Colbeck has been doing a fantastic job in his new role, and I'm sure many Tasmanians are very proud of him. Just as it is for Senator Colbeck, the aged-care sphere is an area close to my heart, as I'm sure it is for so many Australians as we anticipate or dwell upon ensuring that we have a robust system in place that will look after our parents and our grandparents—and even ourselves when the appropriate time comes. Certainly in my case, it is something that my family have had to contemplate in recent years, with my late grandmother going into an aged-care facility. That obviously opened my eyes to some of the opportunities for improvement that exist in this system, and this coalition government are certainly committed to seeking out those opportunities for improvement and increasing funding in these vital areas, because we know that more can be done to strengthen this system. And that's why, since this coalition government was elected back in 2013, aged-care spending has increased every single year. On average, we've added $1 billion of extra support for older Australians each year, and funding only continues to grow. In addition to this, the Morrison Liberal government is committed to improving aged care for all senior Australians, and that's why the Prime Minister called the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Certainly in this chamber today we've heard a lot of commentary not just about this issue but about the family law committee that's been proposed as well, and it bothers me that a lot of the rhetoric has been caught up in rejecting further forms of inquiry because we might already know what the problems are. These are incredibly complex issues that are facing Australia, and I think it is only right we as a government should investigate them fully and should be able to understand the many nuanced issues that exist, particularly in family law. I was disappointed to hear that rhetoric regarding the committee today. This is why we've called the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety; it is so that we can in an appropriate forum uncover all of the issues that we have to deal with. The contrast to Labor, quite frankly, couldn't be more stark. Labor at this election provided no additional funding in their costings for home care places or any additional funding for aged-care quality or workforce or for residential aged care. In contrast, our record in aged care, I believe, stands for itself. That's why older Australians resoundingly voted for the coalition government on 18 May and resoundingly returned this government, as Senator Scarr said in his contribution to this motion earlier this evening. The Morrison government is delivering record investment across the aged-care system over the forward estimates, from $13.3 billion in FY 2013 under Labor, growing to $21.7 billion in FY 2020 under a coalition government and to an estimated $25.4 billion in FY 2023. Our recent track record in improving aged care, including since the royal commission was called, is extensive, and my colleagues tonight have cited a number of different initiatives that we've introduced. I'm certainly not going to go through them all tonight, because our time is expiring, but I would like to assure the Senate and assure the Australian public that the Morrison coalition government takes this issue very seriously. That's why we've called a royal commission. That's why we're making record investment into the aged-care sector.