‘Kicking and screaming’: Ley forces Labor into aged care backdown

3 months ago 15

The Coalition has secured its first political win in parliament since the election, forcing the government to support amendments that will fast-track the delivery of 20,000 aged care packages to older Australians in the next two months.

As the Coalition, Greens and crossbench teamed up to hand Labor its first defeat in the Senate this term, Health Minister Mark Butler on Wednesday negotiated with opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston to meet their demands of the Albanese government’s aged care bill.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley has hammered the government all week over its home care package delay.

The political clash came over a backlog of more than 200,000 older Australians waiting for home support packages that blew out when Labor delayed its aged care reforms from July until November, meaning there was no net increase in the number of packages released in the last two months.

The government will now vote for a Coalition amendment that means it must release 20,000 new packages before November, a further 20,000 before December, and the remaining 43,000 it promised by the end of next June.

While both the Coalition and Independent senator David Pocock sought to immediately force the release of 20,000 packages with the Greens’ support, Labor sidelined the crossbench and negotiated with Ruston to support the Coalition’s changes.

“My approach in relation to aged care policy has always been to seek bipartisan support between the major parties,” Butler said.

“I just think that is the best way forward for enduring aged care reform that has the understanding from the sector and from older Australians themselves that it will endure.”

The result was a coup for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who had prosecuted the issue in question time all week. Ley used Wednesday’s session to goad Aged Care Minister Sam Rae, a junior portfolio minister who came into the ministry as a factional pick in Labor’s May reshuffle.

“In the Senate, the Coalition just dragged Labor kicking and screaming into delivering all 83,000 home care package places that were promised, including 40,000 this year. Labor didn’t want this, but the Coalition made it happen,” Ley said.

“Is the minister [Rae] aware that the prime minister took a deliberate decision to exclude him from all negotiations today between Labor and the Coalition on these matters?”

Rae, who stood with Butler to announce the government’s decision, ignored the swipe. “The house has heard considerable debate on this topic this week,” he said.

“This is a fantastic outcome for older Australians and their families.”

Butler played down the political battle, insisting it was a good outcome but that staffing challenges and demands from an ageing population would keep making aged care delivery difficult.

“It’s all well and good to put packages into the market. It’s another thing to ensure that every hour of that entitlement … is filled by a qualified aged care worker,” he said.

“Providers know, the government knows, that it is hard to staff all of these services. We’re doing everything we can to support providers in doing this, but that pressure will still be there.”

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