Three years into Labor’s term, Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler is still pinning the blame on the previous Coalition government for Australia’s aged care woes, despite mounting evidence of inaction under his watch.
In an ABC radio interview last week, Butler leaned heavily on the “neglect” inherited from the Coalition, as described by the Royal Commission, to dodge accountability for ongoing bed shortages, hospital bed blocks, and ballooning home care package wait times.
His vague promises of “more beds” and “more money” ring hollow against stark realities: 2,400 elderly Australians are “stuck in hospital for no medical reasons,” and 95-year-olds like listener, Mary, are waiting 14 months for home care packages.
Worse, data shows wait times were significantly shorter when Labor took power in 2022, raising questions about Butler’s claims of progress.
Blaming the past to deflect the present
Butler’s interview is a masterclass in finger-pointing. He claims the aged care sector was in “crisis” when Labor came to government in 2022, asserting, “there were no new beds being built, staff were leaving the system in droves.” He cites the Royal Commission’s damning one-word summary of the sector, “neglect,” to underscore the mess Labor inherited.
Yet, three years later, Butler admits the same pressures persist: “We are confronting a position where the very large baby boomer generation is starting to hit the age of aged care.” With South Australian aged care facilities “probably a little fuller than they are in other states,” he concedes, “We need more aged care beds, and we need them urgently.”
So why, after three years of Labor’s self-proclaimed “energy and frankly more money” poured into aged care, are hospitals so desperate they’re placing patients in hotels?
The minister’s defence hinges on legislation passed last year, which he claims the sector said “would lead them to build more beds.” He touts “good signs of bed numbers increasing” and predicts that “the number of aged care beds that will be built next year will be about double this year.”
However, he then quickly undercuts this optimism, admitting it’s “still well short of what we need across the country” and “not quick enough.” The gap between rhetoric and reality is glaring: Butler acknowledges the “real pressure on the hospital system” but offers no concrete timeline beyond a hazy “coming year or two” for when the “big build” will ease the strain.
Instead, he falls back on a 15 per cent hospital funding increase, “the highest I think ever,” as a stopgap, sidestepping why the aged care system remains broken.
Home care packages: Waitlist betrayal
Perhaps the most scandalous revelation is the state of home care packages, meant to help elderly Australians like Mary, who texted during the interview about a 95-year-old waiting 14 months for support.
Butler’s response is telling: “Every one of those stories just reinforces our determination to continue building an aged care system that people like Mary deserve.” Yet determination isn’t delivery. He boasts of “20,000 more home care places over the coming weeks” and “another 20,000 between 1 November and New Year’s Eve,” claiming Labor has “brought forward” packages originally slated for later.
But he admits delays are rampant, with packages “taking longer than was anticipated” due to staffing shortages, despite large numbers of home care providers stating that they are ready and waiting for packages to be released.
This is a far cry from 2022, when Labor took office. Department of Health data from that year shows average wait times for Level 3 and 4 home care packages were 3-6 months, with only the most complex cases hitting 9-12 months. By 2025, wait times have blown out to 14 months or more for people like Mary and thousands of vulnerable seniors in need.
Butler’s insistence that Labor has prioritised aged care, “more in our first term in aged care than I think any other area of policy,” feels like a slap in the face to those languishing on waitlists. The question screams: if Labor’s pouring in record funds, why are wait times worse than when they started?
Boomers as convenient scapegoat
Butler leans hard into demographics to explain the crisis, warning that “the oldest baby boomers are this year hitting the age of 80” and creating “very, very significant” pressure. It’s a convenient scapegoat, as if an ageing population caught the government off guard.
He admits the sector lost time “over the last several years when there just wasn’t enough being built,” subtly jabbing the Coalition while glossing over Labor’s failure to close the gap.
Even with providers now “more willing to build” post-legislation, Butler concedes new facilities won’t “magic up overnight” due to approvals and construction delays. This leaves a yawning “gap between today and when the sector builds it,” with no clear plan to bridge it beyond throwing “more money into South Australian hospitals” and hoping for the best.
Minister out of answers
Butler’s 35 years in the sector should make him an expert, yet his responses betray a lack of urgency. When pressed on South Australia’s specific needs, he vaguely notes the state’s high occupancy rates and says, “We do need to have the sector get on and start building them quickly.”
For a minister who claims aged care is Labor’s top priority, the lack of progress is damning. If “we all agree” on the need for more beds, as Butler says, why are elderly Australians still stranded in hospitals or waiting over a year for basic care at home?
This isn’t just a policy failure, it’s a betrayal of the elderly who, as Butler himself puts it, “worked all their life, paid their taxes.”
With Labor’s term nearing its end, Butler’s reliance on blaming the Coalition feels like a tired script. Australians deserve answers, not excuses.
An investigation into wait time data, unfulfilled package promises, and the real impact of Labor’s “record” funding could expose just how little has changed since 2022, and why Butler’s still pointing backwards instead of stepping up.
Another great article.
Aged care has never been a priority for any government in Australia. Why? Because there are no votes in it. Whoever decided to vote for a party based on their approach to aged care? Nobody. Ultimately it is not an issue for any political party because it is not an issue for the vast majority of voters.
Why does the populace still vote for the major parties when the system has failed!
Our democracy needs revolution and reformation! It is time to look outside of the dogma and vote for minor parties and independents ! Come on, Australians! Stand up and be counted!