Chalmers says ‘no’ to $34b for welfare, aged care’s $5b blowout

Tom McIlroy and Michael Read

Apr 18, 2023 – 10.30pm

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The government has hosed down demands for big new spending in welfare as it revealed the aged care budget was on track to blow out by nearly $5 billion this year alone.

Figures released by Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of the May 9 budget show the cost of delivering aged care will rise by 23 per cent, increasing from $24.8 billion to an estimated $29.6 billion – and that’s before the pay rise for aged care workers, which will cost $1.9 billion per year.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.

Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS.