The Liberals have attacked Labor's aged care policy after the shadow attorney-general suggested a possible pause on its one-year deadline to have a registered nurse in every aged care facility at all times.
Mark Dreyfus admitted there may not be enough trained nurses to implement the plan and more would need to be trained.
"We're talking about setting the standard and if it is in fact true that there are not enough nurses in Australia to provide that level of care, we should train more," he told the ABC.
"It might be that it turns out we've got to pause (the deadline). But let's accept the royal commission's recommendation, let's say we need to have 24-hour nursing care in nursing homes, let's put the nurses back into nursing homes."
Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck has seized on the comments, saying Labor's policy had failed at its first test.
"Mark Dreyfus has admitted Labor would have to pause its promise of an earlier rollout of 24/7 nurses in aged care ... (and) conceded Labor couldn't do it if there are insufficient nurse numbers," he said.
"It has ignored the advice of the aged care royal commission and claimed they would introduce 24/7 nurses a year ahead of schedule."
Senator Colbeck said the government supported having a nurse in aged care facilities at all times, but rolling out the royal commission's recommendations sooner than slated "risks the closure of aged care facilities with a serious risk to residents".
