Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Ryan, representing the western suburbs of Brisbane, I am again delighted to speak in the House of Representatives on this important topic. Child care and early learning are of course very important issues for all parents in this country, and they are certainly important to parents in the electorate of Ryan.

I know that the member for Adelaide is new to this parliament, and I am sure that she is trying as hard as she can to make a contribution to the national debate, but I think I would rather be backing the Treasurer’s skills and abilities over those of the member for Adelaide. This motion has some seven or eight points. Unfortunately, in the time allotment of only five minutes we cannot address each one of them. I want to take the opportunity in the few minutes I have to enlighten the member for Adelaide, because I think this motion really reflects how misguided the member for Adelaide is—as are many of her colleagues on the opposition benches. Parliament really does require serious people, not just people who are going to make uninformed and ill-considered points.

The first point I want to draw to the member for Adelaide’s attention is that I think it would be worth her checking her understanding of our system of government and the federal-state dichotomy. If she were really aware of policy matters then she would, first of all, understand that TAFEs come under the remit of state governments. TAFEs are not the responsibility of the Commonwealth government. One of the points she made was to call for the Commonwealth to call upon the TAFEs of our country—which, as I say, are managed by the state governments—to eliminate fees. TAFEs are the responsibility of the state governments. So she is calling upon the national government of this country to call upon the state governments to do something about early childhood learning. Of course that is important. But to say we have the power to actually remove TAFE fees is quite incorrect. That is something that she might want to brush up on.

This government focuses on early childhood learning very much. Those of us who are parents would have a focus on that. I am delighted to say that I am a parent. I have a 7½-month-old  child, whom I love dearly: young Ryan Andrew Johnson. As a parent, it is very important for me to be aware of the opportunities that the federal government is creating for the children of our nation. The federal government is spending some $9.5 billion over four years to support parents like me who use child care. There are some 600,000 funded places available and over 800,000 children are using government subsidised child care. I would have thought that we would all be very complimentary about something like this; I would have thought that we would all be telling our constituents exactly how hard the federal government is working to maximise opportunities for children eligible for these places. But the opposition is not in the business of commending the government when it comes up with good ideas, initiatives and policies.

In addition to these matters, the Howard government has announced an extra $120.5 million over four years for child care in the 2006-07 budget. This is real money that will make a real difference. The member for Adelaide may need to be made aware that these are some of the biggest changes to child care since the introduction of the childcare benefit in 2000. These are really significant policy announcements by the government, not some on-the-run motions and on-the-run policies that we are now becoming familiar with from those opposite. I recommend that she get a bit more of an understanding of this issue. I know that she is probably well meaning, but her contribution would have had far more substance if she was aware of the Australian government’s activities and policies in this very important area. We should all know that from 1 July last year the Australian government removed the cap on the number of CCB approved places for outside school hours and family day care. This means 99 per cent of childcare places will be uncapped, and that is very important for the people of Ryan. (Time expired)

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