Sam Rae aged care minister : When Sam Rae, the minister for aged care, approaches the dispatch box, he always fastens his jacket, projecting the air of a man with something important to say.
On Monday, during question time, he buttoned it once again when asked about a 90-year-old Parkinson’s patient who has been told he may need to wait up to 12 months for a government care package to remain in his home.
Jacket Buttoning and Symbolism in Question Time
He again buttoned his jacket on Wednesday as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley boasted that the Coalition had compelled the government to release 20,000 home care packages two months ahead of schedule.
Yet Rae remained silent on her central allegation: that he had been sidelined when his own government struck a deal with the Coalition this week, confronted with the prospect of the crossbench, the Greens, and the opposition joining forces to hand it a Senate defeat.
How much Rae was excluded from the negotiations between his boss, Mark Butler, and opposition counterpart, Anne Ruston, remains uncertain. But for a man never short on self-confidence, Rae has shown little desire to claim personal credit.
“This is a fantastic outcome for older Australians and their families, who now have the certainty that more care is on the way,” Rae replied to Ley, smiling like someone aware he was swallowing a dose of humble pie.
He framed it as a bipartisan success, offering thanks to Ruston as well, before finishing off the metaphorical slice.
Still, Rae—or perhaps whoever crafted his response—allowed himself one indulgence, noting there had been “remarkably considerable debate on this topic.
Since stepping into the role, the relatively new minister has been under relentless fire in question time from the Liberals, Nationals, and the crossbench. On Monday alone, Rae fielded nine hostile questions—far more than either the prime minister or Butler.
Coalition Pressures Government on Home Care Packages
The government took a similar approach with then–immigration minister Andrew Giles last year, after struggling to manage the fallout from the High Court’s ruling that indefinite detention of non-deportable criminals was unlawful. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shifted Giles into the far safer jobs and skills portfolio.
Rae, however, isn’t going anywhere. He is too valuable a factional player, backed by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Labor MP-turned-lobbyist Stephen Conroy’s numbers. And whatever frustration he may feel at being targeted is concealed behind his thick skin and near-constant public smile.
Still, Rae’s journey from obscure backbencher, quietly tallying numbers for his patrons, to a minister in his own right has been a baptism of fire. In a portfolio where the Coalition has largely cooperated with the government to plug a major hole in the Commonwealth’s finances, Rae has nevertheless been exposed in a last-minute retreat.
“How do you feel about your position in the ministry, knowing that people with far more experience than you have been demoted for factional priorities?” ABC host Sally Sara asked him bluntly on Thursday morning.
Her question struck at Rae’s most sensitive point: his promotion came as part of factional maneuvering that cost industry minister Ed Husic and attorney-general Mark Dreyfus their positions.
Rae answered without pause. “I’m very, very proud to serve in the Albanese Labor ministry,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have such a deep bench of rising talent, and I’m genuinely honoured to hold the position I do.
You could almost hear the smile in his voice — and the jacket buttoning once more.
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