Tag Archives: oceania

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Anthony Albanese accuses federal government of aged care 'neglect'

Anthony Albanese has lambasted a taskforce looking into COVID-19 deaths in aged care and decried the federal government for "neglecting" vulnerable people in the facilities.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said 84 per cent of the 1103 COVID-19 deaths in Australia from December 15 to the end of January had been in people aged over 70, with a significant number of those in aged care, as he announced the taskforce into the sector's fatalities this morning.

The Opposition Leader took aim at the "extraordinary response", claiming an investigation should have already been underway given the clear toll the virus is having on older Australians.

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Anthony Albanese has called on Richard Colbeck to resign.

"It is the suggestion the department was not looking at those issues that they had to set up a task force?" he said.

"Surely they were looking at these issues and this is a non-announcement.

"The idea that you could have, as you have had, 566 deaths since the first of January in aged care and the department would not be looking at those circumstances is extraordinary.

"An announcement would be the government saying that they are going to take serious action."

While COVID-19 has affected all ages of people, the most vulnerable to the disease remains people in aged care facilities.

READ MORE: Inside Australia's aged care crisis

Inside the aged care crisis

Tens of thousands of aged care residents are yet to receive a booster shot.

Mr Albanese said there are residents in aged care who are "missing out on showering, missing out on food and water, who are not having their wounds tended to".

"This is a crisis, and it is a crisis on this government's watch in the wake of a Royal Commission that described the aged care sector in one word, neglect.

"Well, we have had ongoing neglect from this government," the federal opposition leader said.

"They knew, they knew that aged care residents were particularly vulnerable and yet we have aged care workers who still cannot get access to rapid antigen tests.

"We have aged care residents who are confused, who are locked in their rooms, who are not able to see their loved ones… This is not good enough," he added.

The aged care sector has come under particular strain during the pandemic.

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Earlier, Professor Kelly said the government was seeking further information into the deaths.

"It is not an easy thing. The numbers have been challenging in terms of getting detailed information from that situation," Professor Kelly said.

"We'll be setting up a specific task force in the Department to look at that and to do everything we can to get more detail about the issues, particularly in aged care, but more broadly in the community related to those people who have passed away."

Mr Albanese also called for Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to resign.

Mr Colbeck has been in the spotlight after defending his decision to go to the Ashes instead of the COVID-19 inquiry into the crisis unfolding in Australian nursing homes.

Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services and Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck during a Senate hearing on COVID-19, at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 2 February 2022. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

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"Today I am angry," Mr Albanese said this morning.

"I am angry because I have spoken to the families of aged care residents who have had enough.

"Richard Colbeck must resign today. If Richard Colbeck does not resign today the Prime Minister should sack him.

"He is simply incapable of fulfilling the task of looking after the interests of old vulnerable Australians," Mr Albanese added.

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Controversy embroils 'discovery' of Captain Cook's ship

The announcement of the final resting place of the wreck of the ship Captain Cook sailed to Australia in, the HMB Endeavour, has attracted unexpected controversy after the organisation that led the search declared it a premature conclusion.

Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) director and CEO Kevin Sumption earlier today said the archaeological evidence pointed to the discovery of the ship's remains in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, in the US.

"I am satisfied that this is the final resting place of one of the most important and contentious vessels in Australia's maritime history," he said.

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"It's an important historical moment, as this vessel's role in exploration, astronomy and science applies not just to Australia, but also Aotearoa New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States."

But in a statement, the organisation leading the search, the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, rebuked the announcement.

"The ANMM announcement today is a breach of the contract between RIMAP and the ANMM for the conduct of this research and how its results are to be shared with the public," RIMAP executive director Dr Kathy Abbass said.

"What we see on the shipwreck site under study is consistent with what might be expected of the Endeavour, but there has been no indisputable data found to prove the site is that iconic vessel, and there are many unanswered questions that could overturn such an identification."

Dr Abbass said RIMAP's conclusions would be scientific and not driven by "Australian emotions or politics".

But the ANMM is sticking to its guns.

"Having worked with Dr Abbass to investigate the Endeavour shipwreck site for 22 years, the museum acknowledges that she is entitled to her own opinion regarding the vast amount of evidence we have accumulated," a spokesperson said.

"As stated today, our Director Kevin Sumption is confident that the preponderance of evidence identifies shipwreck site RI 2394 in Newport Harbor as the last resting place of Endeavour.

"The museum has reviewed our previous agreements with RIMAP and we conclude that we are not in breach of any current commitments.

"We look forward to pursuing a due process of peer review and consultation with all stakeholders in Rhode Island."

History of the Endeavour

Originally launched in 1764 as the Earl of Pembroke, in 1768 the vessel was renamed Endeavour by Britain's Royal Navy and prepared for a major scientific voyage.

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Over 1768 to 1771, Endeavour voyaged to the South Pacific, primarily to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti in 1769.

Following the completion of that astronomical mission, the ship sailed around the South Pacific searching for the Great Southern Land, charting the coast of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia in 1770.

Endeavour was then used by the Royal Navy as a transport to take supplies to the Falkland Islands.

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In 1775, it was found to be in poor condition and sold to a private owner, who renamed it Lord Sandwich.

It carried goods to the Baltic before being hired by the Royal Navy to operate as troop transport.

In 1776, Lord Sandwich took soldiers to fight against the American colonists who sought to break free from British control.

In August 1778, Lord Sandwich was in Newport Harbour, holding American revolutionaries who had been captured by the British.

When a French fleet of warships sailed in to support the American forces, the British scuttled Lord Sandwich and four other vessels to create a blockade at the northern end of the harbour.

This happened one year before Cook's death in Hawaii while on his third Pacific voyage, and 10 years before the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales.

QUIZ: Take our Endeavour trivia test

The wreck identified as the former Endeavour displayed key components that matched the 18th-century plans of the ship, as well as possessing a hull that was the same length as that recorded for the active ship, Mr Sumption said.

"The archaeological work continues, and we anticipate further discussion of the evidence over the coming months," Mr Sumption said.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has also launched a website that will allow people to to learn more about the search using "immersive videos, animation, underwater footage, and photogrammetry data sets".

The Deep Dive website can be accessed here.