Bank on the PM & you bank on reform

Minister Butler has urged the sector to look past its doubts and bank on the fact that the PM will reform aged care just as she promised.

Above: Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, at CS&HISC’s Decision Makers’ Forum, Parliament House. Photos by Jennifer Nagy Exclusive Images.

By Yasmin Noone

Discard your fear of inaction and bank on Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s promise to make aged care reform a priority during this term of office, the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, has urged.

Following an address to the nation’s top community services and health decision makers in Canberra, Mr Butler confirmed that he is very aware there are doubts over the government’s ability to resist playing political games and implement real change.

He also recognised the risk he faces if the Productivity Commission’s final report simply gets filed on the shelf of inquiry reports past.

“I am aware that there is a room with the heads of aged care ministers mounted on the wall,” Mr Butler said.

“No one understands that more than I do.

“I have a deep passion for the sector…[This] is not an academic exercise for me.”

But, he said, “my commitment to reform is not so important”. What is important “is the Prime Minister’s commitment”.
 
“She’s indicated that she’s committed to reform.

“You can put that in the bank.”

Mr Butler joined a host of guest speakers who discussed health and aged reform, education and workforce issues at the Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council’s Decision Makers’ Forum at Parliament House, this week.

After his presentation, Mr Butler fielded audience questions and admitted that former ministers had failed to radically reform the sector. But, he promised, this time around would be different.

Referring to the current united front put forward by the sector (with the help of the National Aged Care Alliance), he stated that the sector has a “level of maturity now that it did not have before”.

“Where we are now is very different to where we were [within the sector] in the late 90s.

 “This is not the same time of the past.”

Future reform is also likely, Mr Butler said, because aged care issues are close to the heart of many current ministers, including Treasurer Wayne Swan MP.

“Wayne is not the typical treasurer…He has a deep sense of understanding of community services work, particular that which involves vulnerable people.”

The minister also indicated that Mr Swan had a soft spot of sorts for issues pertaining to aged care and that he would be “torn” when budget time arrives and he is forced to make a decision about aged care funding.

Aged Care Association Australia’s national policy consultant, Bruce Shaw, asked Mr Butler whether or not the 2011 budget, to be announced in May, will put aside additional aged care funding, given that the PC’s final report is released in June and the government is due to act thereafter.

“No. That doesn’t work,” Mr Butler said.

“The community sector will have to have time to absorb the final report and the government’s reaction…

“[The Treasury] is not going to put things in the budget to pre-empt the PC.

“…The earth has not stopped rotating on its axis just because there is a Productivity Commission inquiry into aged care.”

Mr Butler went on to add that his government has taken action on aged care and will continue to do so, regardless of the inquiry; and he conceded that the government would not be giving the PC a “rubber stamp”.

He also spoke about the two biggest risks to the implementation of reform, following the release of the PC’s final report.

The government could be either distracted by something more pressing or the sector could split and send out mixed messages about its reform wish-list. The later risk, he said, is the greater one.

“Having said all of that, it’s our job to talk to the community… and think about what we can get through this place [parliament] which is a very difficult beast in the current paradigm.”

1 thought on “Bank on the PM & you bank on reform

  1. The Prime Minister’s commitment to aged care reform is both necessary and a good thing. If she did not have such a commitment then we would all be wasting our time, just look at what happened from 1998 to 2007 under a Prime Minister who lost any commitment to aged care reform in the fires of the 2007 Aged Care Act! Or just ask Santo Santoro who tried to fix a few things.

    It also increases the chances – almost to the point of a guarantee? – that the Leader of the Opposition will try and kick the aged care reform ball into touch. That’s the nub of the political challenge.

    Most (not all) of the ‘leaders’of the aged care industry are on Tony’s side of politics. I’ve heard enough of them over the Boardroom coffee to be confident of this. Time to work on those networks guys?

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