Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That happens at school too. If there are a number children in the household, that happens every year and it is very easy to spend up to $70 on school photos. That is part of the educational experience. If a child misses out on having their photo when everyone else in the class has their photos it is not good for them and nor is it good for their parents because it is a record of what went on at school. I regard that as an educational expense, but photos were not covered under the old scheme.

Talking about the week-to-week functions of schools, there is not one parent in Australia who would not know about requests for school donations. There is always a chocolate drive, a raffle or a donation in lieu of attending on a weekend to clean out the gutters. Whatever it may be, schools need to raise money, but under the education tax refund scheme those sorts of expenses were not covered. Again, they are pretty important to the school and they are money out of the parents' pockets. Other things that are not necessarily thought of when looking at education expenses are transport costs such as bus fares. They add up, but were not covered under the old scheme. Again, most parents would say if children have to go to school on a bus it should be regarded as an educational expense. I think they are right.

There are many items that are now covered but that were not covered before. That is a great thing for parents right across Australia. It is a great thing that the money is going to be paid upfront, rather than parents having to collect receipts and wait around for a refund, in some cases for more than a year depending on when the expense was incurred and how soon the taxpayer gets to an accountant to get the paperwork done. Those expenses will now be covered—money before instead of money after is good for the family budget.

Those people who think that parents with children at school will immediately run off to the pub and blow the lot, as I have heard some people in this place say, really misstate the case of those parents. Most parents of children who go to school work very hard to get the best education for their children and a little bit extra helps. I am sure, like everything in society, not every last dollar that goes to every last person will be spent on educational expenses. Some may go on other household expenses too. As it is a government payment, it is not up to the likes of me to tell a family how they should spend their money. If they direct it to education for their kids and that covers some of the expenses I have just gone through then that is a great start. I am certain that even with these payments some items on the long list of expenses that were not covered by the education tax refund will still not be covered for many people, but this bonus is a great help.

Governments should be lending assistance to those who need it. By targeting family tax benefit A recipients the schoolkids bonus does exactly that. There will be high-income families that do not receive it and there will be low-income families and middle-income families that do receive it. I put it to the House: who is better able to afford to send their children to school, a low-income family or a high-income family? I suspect it is the high-income family in just about every circumstance. Producing the payment before children start the school year and the fees have to be paid is a good thing—as I said, usually school fees are not paid the year a child starts school as the bill is sent out and the school wants payment before the end of the previous school year. Generally these accounts arrive a couple of weeks before Christmas, which is the worst time for a bill to arrive because of all the other Christmas expenses and the hangover in January when the credit card bill inevitably arrives.

The education tax refund was a great step forward that was put in place by a Labor government. I think the schoolkids bonus is an even better step forward. Waiting around for your receipts to be checked and for the tax office to send a refund was an improvement, but now there is a better way of doing that. I have seen people coming into this place today to talk about how this money could be spent, which I think only devalues how parents will spend it. Money that is directed towards their children's education is not only an investment in that family's future but also an investment in Australia's future. I commend the bill to the House.

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