Press conference with Minister Butler, Adelaide – 25 July 2025

MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Thanks for coming, good weather. I might just say a couple of things and then take your questions. I know you're all across the situation that's unfolding at Bedford. The first thing I'd say as the Federal Minister for Disability and the NDIS but also as a South Australian, is just how deeply, deeply worried I am for the hundreds, the 1,400 or so, South Australians living with a disability for whom Bedford is their lifeline. This is a South Australian icon that has supported those South Australians and their families for more than 80 years. I am appalled at the depth of the financial crisis that Bedford has been allowed to get into. We've been working with them since it first came to our notice, which was only last month, which frankly is far too late in the situation. But we've been working with Bedford, particularly through the South Australian government, to see what we can do to support those 1,400 South Australians. I've been very clear that it is not the position of the government to hand taxpayer funds to a management team, whether it's an organisation like Bedford or profit-making businesses for that matter, who have got their organisation into this level of financial strife.
 
We've been working with South Australia about a way in which we can support the needs of those 1,400 South Australians. I'm really glad that the Premier, the Treasurer Stephen Mullighan whom I've been talking to on an almost daily basis, sometimes several times a day about this situation, have had a productive meeting with Bedford today. That if things go right over the course of the weekend will buy us some time to ensure that those South Australians can turn up to work on Monday most importantly. But also buy us some time to get to the bottom of what has happened here and to work out whether there is a way to get this South Australian icon back on track.
 
JOURNALIST: So Minister you're flat out refusing to add any more money into the Bedford pot?
 
BUTLER: What I've said is we don't give money to an organisation that has got itself into this level of financial strife without some independent administration that can give taxpayers confidence that there's a viable pathway. That's long been the position of governments. That's the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Now, we've been working through South Australia so that there's a single point of government to Bedford contact. That's the wise way to do this I think, to see how we can essentially arrest this crisis that has been allowed to develop and get to such a late position without governments really having a line of sight about what's happening here. How we can arrest the immediate crisis and allow those people to turn up to work on Monday but then work in a responsible way to ensure that there's a viable pathway out of this. Frankly, I don't think people are going to have confidence in the management of Bedford to tell us what is that pathway out, given they have essentially overseen the depth of financial mismanagement here. It is for an administrator to do. That's the position we've taken in relation to Whyalla, it's the position I've taken in relation to Healthscope, which people would be familiar with right now. It is the usual position of government.
 
JOURNALIST: The chair today has said that she offered her resignation. Do you think she should resign over this?
 
BUTLER: Look, I think the immediate focus has got to be on helping ensure that those South Australians can turn up to work on Monday and really deal with the very immediate deep financial crisis this South Australian icon faces, which is essentially a crisis of a few days, if that is able to be dealt with. I've heard the Premier's public remarks today that requires a bit more work over the weekend involving the government, the administrator and the major bank for Bedford. If that can be done, then I think hopefully there is then the ability for someone independent to work out a pathway out of this very deep financial crisis.
 
JOURNALIST: Bedford says that the NDIS model was in part to blame. Is it?
 
BUTLER: I tell you, there are thousands of organisations providing NDIS services. Bedford is one of them, they earn more than $30 million from the NDIS every single year. I can't think of another organisation that has got itself into the position that Bedford management has. I think it's quite clear that Bedford has tried a number of, frankly, quite different ways to diversify its financial base and that hasn't worked for them. I think that is frankly a distraction. Of course, there are always issues around the financing of a program as complex as the NDIS but to say that the depth of the financial crisis that this organisation is in is because of a funding system that applies to thousands of other organisations that are not dealing with what Bedford has got itself into right now is a distraction.
 
JOURNALIST: But should the government have more oversight over an organisation that's getting millions and millions of dollars in NDIS funding every year?
 
BUTLER: We'll have a think about that, obviously. We've got an NDIS commission in place. There are literally tens and tens of thousands of providers in this sector. Bedford's a big one, particularly in the supported employment space. It is unfortunate that the depth of this financial crisis has only been brought to the attention of governments and others in recent weeks, given how deep it is. But I think our immediate focus right now is on ensuring that people are able to turn up for work on Monday.
 
JOURNALIST: So are you characterising this as a gross mismanagement?
 
BUTLER: The depth of this crisis, the fact that we are in a position where calls have to be made within a matter of days to determine whether or not people can turn up to work on Monday, gives you a very clear sense of the depth of this crisis. I'll compare the situation to Healthscope, a big private hospital provider that's in administration. That had enough money on its books to continue operating for more than 12 months while an orderly transition process takes place. Not a single patient has been turned away, not a single surgery has been cancelled, not a single employee has had their shift cancelled during the administration process. Compare that to now, where we're being told by Bedford, if things aren't dealt with over the weekend, people might not be able to turn up to work imminently. So, look, the depth of this crisis cannot be overstated. Frankly, I'm appalled that it's got to this position. Of course, as government, we now have to see what we can do to support those hundreds of South Australians and their families have the sort of support, whether it's NDIS support or supported employment opportunities into the future, they've had in South Australia for so long now.
 
JOURNALIST: Bedford filed a notice with ASIC nearly two months ago. Why has it taken so long? You know, we're down to the wire now. If we need something done in two days, or we're into voluntary administration, why is it taking so long?
 
BUTLER: That’s really a question you need to ask the Bedford chair. They came to us last month. Frankly, I think both the state, the Federal Government, I imagine too, the bank and now an administrator, are trying to get to the bottom of this and see really what the details of this financial position is and what the pathway out is. I don't think it is responsible to ask that question of the management that have got the organisation into that place in the first place. That's the whole reason for a process of administration when businesses or other not for profit organisations get to this point.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, have you spoken to any Bedford employees who are now facing this uncertain future?
 
BUTLER: I was on an interview this morning where one phoned in. Look, I've got a very deep sense of this not just being a job for those South Australians. I worked with them in the 1990s in this area. I know what these employment opportunities mean for people. It's not just a job, it's a social connection, and you heard that in some of the talkback calls on radio interviews that both the Premier and I were doing this.
 
JOURNALIST: So surely knowing that, it's just too big to fail, is it not?
 
BUTLER: We need a pathway out of this. We need those supported employment opportunities to continue in South Australia. As I think the Premier made clear in his press conference today, there is something quite unique about the South Australian market. Most other jurisdictions have a number of different supported employment providers, so that if one got into difficulty, it would be relatively easy to see people transferred to other providers. Bedford is so big in South Australia, by far the biggest provider in our state, the second biggest provider in the country, that if it does go under, some of the NDIS services will be relatively straightforward to redeploy to other providers, but the supported employment opportunities will be very difficult to transition because of the sheer scale of it. That is why we're so focused as a federal government, and I know the Malinauskas Government is so focused on this challenge. it's the scale of Bedford operations in this -
 
JOURNALIST: You're not willing to give us an assurance today that you won't let it go under?
 
BUTLER: We need to get to the bottom of exactly what the pathway out of this is. Our major focus is on the people being supported by the organisation. Of course, as a South Australian, I want Bedford to continue for another 80 years. It's an icon of our state. Our focus right now is on the participants, the clients of the organisation, and making sure they are looked after. There is then a proper process of administration to have someone independent come in and look over their books and understand how on earth this organisation was allowed to get to this position.
 
JOURNALIST: Bedford says It's not alone and that 70 per cent of providers have faced financial difficulty under the NDIS.
 
BUTLER: I talk to those providers, and I talk to their peak organisations. You cannot point to another organisation that is anywhere even close to the level of financial strife that Bedford has been allowed to get into.
 
JOURNALIST: Just quickly on another matter, France has announced it will recognise a Palestinian state. What would it take for Australia to move from aspiring to a two states solution to acting upon it?
 
BUTLER: That's obviously a very sensitive issue. I'm not going to delve into something that's not in my portfolio area. That's really a matter for the Foreign Affairs Minister.
 
JOURNALIST: And Donald Trump has praised Australia's decision to lift trade barriers for US beef. Is this the response Australia was looking for?
 
BUTLER: This was a decision based on biosecurity science. As I've said a number of times this morning, this was a decision that reflects an application made by the United States back in 2020, I think it was. There had been a process underway going back 10 years to consider whether or not to allow market access to US beef that was raised and slaughtered in the United States, and that access was granted in 2019. The Americans then made an application to allow access to beef that was grown, that was born and grown in Canada and Mexico, then transported to the US, slaughtered there, and then they were seeking to be able to export it to Australia. For the last five years, we've been doing that work. In the last six to nine months, the Americans put in place the traceability arrangements that would give us confidence that we would know where that Canadian or Mexican raised cattle was coming from. Our officials have spent the last six or so months assessing that, and they took the view that it complies with our conditions, very strict conditions. It wasn't a trade decision, it was a biosecurity decision made by expert officials that government, the Commonwealth level have employed to do this work for years. They've done it for the former Coalition government. They did it for us this year.
 
JOURNALIST: The state government says it's put millions into helping Bedford stay afloat while we buy time. Yes or no, will the Commonwealth provide any money to help buy that time as well?
 
BUTLER: That time has been bought to allow us to continue to work with the South Australian Government and with the administrator and other operators as well, other players as well, like the banks, to ensure that this organisation has every chance of serving the needs of South Australians for the next 80 years.
 
JOURNALIST: So that means no federal funding?
 
BUTLER: No, I didn’t say that, Belinda. I said we need to work through this in the usual way we do, which is if an organisation has got into this level of financial strife, there is an orderly process of administration that allows governments and other lenders and other creditors, as you know, Belinda, to have a clear, objective sense of the financial predicament of an organisation and the pathway out before decisions like that are made.
 
JOURNALIST: Is it fair, though, that it would fall entirely to the state government to bail out Bedford, and you wouldn't come to the table?
 
BUTLER: There'll be an expectation that the Commonwealth is deeply involved in that process of determining the longer term future for Bedford, and I've committed to doing that. We've been involved in essentially a constant way over the last many days with Bedford, mostly through the South Australian Government that has been the direct point of contact for the organisation. We've been very focused on it over the last 24 hours, as this meeting has taken place this morning between the Premier and Bedford, and we'll continue to work on it hard.
 
JOURNALIST: Would it be accurate to report that you're willing to give money, just not under the current governance?
 
BUTLER: It's long been a position of government not to provide money to a management team that's got a company or an organisation into this level of strife. You just have to look in South Australia to the Whyalla example. Of course, that company was moved into administration before our government or the South Australian Government was willing to give money. They were not going to give money to the existing management that had overseen the level of crisis the Whyalla Steelworks had. I said the same thing about Healthscope. I'm being consistent with that here, and that is a responsible way in which to deploy taxpayer support and funds.
 
Thanks, everyone.