Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. I have indicated that the government are sending a message to childcare operators. We want that message to be heard. We expect it to be heard. We want working families to benefit from increased CCTR. We want working families to have the pressure of childcare costs in part lifted from their shoulders by additional government investment in CCTR. Obviously, as a government we are concerned if there are any suggestions of unfair pricing practices. We are sending a very clear message about unfair pricing practices.

As I indicated to the member before in my answer to his last question, the matter has been in the media. There have been reports that have been of a contradictory nature about likely childcare price increases. We are obviously going to work with industry. We are going to see what the evidence is. But we want to send a message to childcare operators that we do not want to see unfair pricing practices.

At the same time—and I am glad the member has a new-found interest in child care—we are addressing the supply constraints in child care, which have put pressure on. They include insufficient workforce. That is why as part of our action on child care we have not only increased CCTR from 30 per cent to 50 per cent; we have taken steps to expand the childcare workforce including through fee relief for people who want to be childcare workers, new investments in childcare early educators and, of course, our proposals to expand the number of childcare centres by 260.

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