The federal aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, spent almost an hour on national television on Monday night wearing the pursed expression of a man with an empty wallet, trying to avoid being asked for money.

One seat away on ABC TV’s Q&A program, the head of the aged care sector lobby, Sean Rooney, was after much more than the minister’s spare change.

Rooney, the chief executive of Leading Age Services Australia, told the panel the sector needed $1.3bn from the federal government in the next 18 months, in addition to current funding levels.

That sort of money would be needed just to keep existing standards in place, until the final recommendations of a royal commission that has revealed horrifying stories about mistreatment, neglect and a lack of resources in Australian nursing homes.

“If we want a world-class aged-care system it’s going to require world-class funding,” Rooney said, addressing his comments no one in particular.

“We spend 1% of [gross domestic product] on aged care. This is not a sustainable, viable system as it currently stands and we need to come up with a solution, right now.”

Colbeck wanted to help, he said. He just didn’t have the money right now, but would definitely think about it and talk to his boss first.

“It’s not something that we’re not considering,” he said.

“I can’t make a commitment to something that hasn’t been decided by government.

“We are looking at all of the reports and numbers right now. I’m very cognisant of the needs of industry right now.”

"I am very cognisant of the circumstances around the industry right now" @richardmcolbeck on the Government's planned action on aged care #QandA pic.twitter.com/xdRJuYhksB — ABC Q&A (@QandA) October 7, 2019

The episode of Q&A devoted its entire hour to the aged care situation. The royal commission has heard a seemingly endless stream of horror stories about poor and exploitative conditions. Talk about solutions mostly came down to numbers and brass tacks.

Colbeck said staff-patient ratios were a “simple and blunt instrument” and that there was no evidence these would improve the system.

Sarah Holland-Batt, a consumer advocate whose father was abused in an aged care facility, said Colbeck’s notion of a blunt instrument could also be called a “bare minimum”.

“As someone whose parent suffered repeatedly from poor staffing ... [I] frankly think the fact that there is not a registered nurse on site at aged-care facilities [at all times] is outrageous,” Holland-Batt said.

Labor’s shadow aged care minister, Julie Collins, said the system needed more transparency about how government funding was being spent, and around how complaints were handled.

“For repeat offenders that continually breach accreditation, I think we need to consider some form of penalty,” Collins said.

The celebrity chef Maggie Beer, whose foundation has been working and campaigning to improve food for people in aged-care facilities, said in some cases meals were costing $6 per person, per day.

“It can’t happen, you cannot get proper food [for $6 a day],” Beer said.

“Should there be Government regulations that force facilities to improve meals and so improve the quality of life?” #QandA pic.twitter.com/qOAEa2vrTO — ABC Q&A (@QandA) October 7, 2019

“It’s not just money that will make a difference. You cannot do real food, with the scent of home cooking. The scent of food is what gives you the cues to eat and helps the pleasure of eating. At $6 or $7 a day you can only have processed foods or frozen foods.

“There’s got to be joy in life, there’s got to be pleasure. I bring so much back to food. Nutrition is not enough.”