Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I would just make the point that the minister was quite categoric last night in the parliament when he said that there is no shortage of child care for the zero to two age group. He did not make any provisos that this was just in the areas where allegations have been made. He was basically saying that there are no shortages anywhere in Australia. It is an extraordinary statement to make given that we have now discovered that he does not actually have data available for all of Australia; he only has data available for those areas where we have raised issues. Anyway, I will leave that where it stands.

Just to follow up on another issue from last night, the minister said in relation to the childcare tax rebate payments that the average payment to low-income earners is $300 to $500. I think I am quoting him correctly. In the estimate hearings recently, the department confirmed that the average payment being made is $813. I just want to confirm that all of these figures are correct. The minister might recall that just before the budget there was a banner headline in the News Ltd Sunday papers which said that people would be getting $8,000. Can the minister inform us how many families will in fact get $8,000?

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