A spokesman for the Minister for Aged Care has issued a clarification about her meeting with the Wesley Mission CEO, after incorrectly claiming she had met with him two weeks ago and he had not mentioned looming home closures.
On Thursday last week, responding to news that Wesley Mission will close three aged care homes in Sydney forcing 200 residents to relocate, Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said she had met with the Wesley Mission CEO and he had not mentioned the potential for home closures to her.
“The first I heard of this was last night when I met with the CEOs from Wesley Mission just two weeks ago and they did not raise this with me,” she said.
But on Friday, The Australian has reported that a spokesperson for the Minister clarified her comments, saying the meeting was with the Queensland chief executive of Wesley Mission.
“Minister Wells met with Wesley Mission Queensland CEO Jude Emmer on March 31 in Adelaide,” the spokesperson said.
“Jude Emmer was the Wesley Mission representative at the meeting.
“The Minister has never claimed to have met Reverend Stu Cameron.”
The spokesperson also said Wesley Mission has apologised to the Department about not contacting them prior to making the decision to close the homes.
“Wesley Mission has today contacted the Department of Health and Aged Care to apologise for their lack of communication regarding their facility closures,” the spokesperson said.
