Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I have, this afternoon in Brisbane, in the suburb of Waterford, although I forget the name of the centre now. Allegedly—I do not know what word you want to use—it has written to its families saying that it is intending to put up the fees by 10 per cent on 1 July and that it will be easier to absorb because the federal government has increased CCB by 10 per cent. So we are having a look at what centres are operating around there. We will be making it known whether that is in line with other people’s fees and ensuring that the public have adequate information. Maybe they are way below—I do not know. If they are, they might be just bringing themselves in line with others. But we will look at those sorts of issues as they arise and make the public aware of the choices that they have available. That is what I meant when I said that we are not going to be a passive bystander. There are practical things we can do in advising the public and informing ourselves of the genuine situation.

On Saturday at the Queensland childcare meeting, the issue was raised by one provider in particular who was clearly concerned that I would show such an interest. I made it known to them that you have to be able to justify in the arena of public opinion that these are reasonable childcare rises, that they can be substantiated and that they are not a way of simply taking advantage of the generosity of this measure.

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