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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Butler and Paul Karp

PM shuts down Peter Dutton after defence minister flags sending troops into nursing homes

Defence personnel at aged care home
Australian defence force staff helped at aged care facilities in Melbourne in mid-2020 during Victoria’s Covid wave. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA

Scott Morrison has hosed down Peter Dutton’s suggestion that troops could be deployed to aged care homes to help with the sector’s staffing crisis, saying defence personnel were “not a shadow workforce”.

But the prime minister has acknowledged the situation is a “crisis”, as aged care providers report being stretched by sickness furloughing, with dramatic staff shortages leaving some elderly residents without food, cleaning or support.

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