Prime Minister Scott Morrison has apologised for failings in the aged care response to coronavirus, but continued government rejections of evidence given at the aged care royal commission this week.
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"On the days that the system falls short, on the days that expectations are not met, I'm deeply sorry about that, of course I am, and I know that everyone who is involved in the process who is trying to meet those expectations is equally sorry," Mr Morrison said on Friday.
The aged care royal commission held three days of hearings focusing on the pandemic in aged care settings, and heard the federal government was unprepared for how aged care homes would be affected by the virus, a claim that has been disputed.
Mr Morrison said everyone in government and the sector had been working as hard as possible, and plans had been in place to deal with the virus in aged care since early in the year.
More than 200 of the Australians who have died from coronavirus were aged care residents, an overwhelming majority of the country's death toll.
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Clusters in aged care settings in Victoria continue to grow, and the aged care royal commission heard lessons learned from earlier outbreaks in Sydney were not passed on to other jurisdictions.
Mr Morrison acknowledged issues around loss of workforce and transfers of residents to hospital continued in Victoria, but sought to lay blame with the level of community transmission in that state.
He said the aged care response centre set up between the federal and Victorian governments had made a significant difference, and national cabinet would be considering putting in place a plan to be able to reproduce that model in other states and territories.
Despite criticism from the counsel assisting the commission, Mr Morrison said the measures called for this week were already being taken.
"What has been proposed effectively is what the government has been doing," he said.
"The matters that were raised that needed to be addressed very much mirrored the actions the government has indeed been taking."
Sally Whyte
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
