The strongest initiative that government can take to ensure Australia is prepared for population ageing, is to maintain a strong economy, and a secure nation.

But it's not just the cattle producers, it's all the attendant industries like transport and shipping and feed producers and the like. There will be enormous ramifications across the beef industry generally as a result of the Government's decision to ban all exports to all of the abattoirs in Indonesia.

We know that so many of the conditions and diseases that we associate with ageing can often be prevented or in fact their onset delayed if we just took preventative steps earlier in our lives.

The Gillard government must give up its addiction to wasteful spending borrowing and taxing.

There are genuine concerns about the status of children to be sent to Malaysia and also there are genuine concerns about the human rights record in Malaysia.

Community care is a fundamental, an essential, an enduring part of our aged care system.

At the last census it indicated that about 22 per cent of Australians were born overseas.