Peter Dutton has confirmed that he will support reform to aged care legislation and believes the sector needs higher funding.

Earlier, The Australian reported that Dutton would consider cutting support to aged care and the NDIS if necessary to fund the acquisition of submarines. However, in a subsequent doorstop interview Dutton said this interpretation was incorrect and in fact the opposite was true.

“If there is a structural change that requires legislation to make our aged care system more sustainable, getting more money into the system to give people greater dignity as they age, then we would support that,” he said.

The Government's expectation it will spend $368 billion on nuclear submarines places enormous pressure on the budget, raising questions about how items such as aged care will be funded. Reforms such as Plan B could be part of the solution.