Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Adelaide would like to know more about this, so I will tell her more. One of the first actions of the new Labor government in 2007, as she would know, was to increase the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent and to increase the CCR cap. We also gave families the option of claiming the CCR payment fortnightly, which made a big difference—and there are all kinds of stats that others have spoken about. Modelling showed that out-of-pocket costs for a family earning 75 grand a year reduced from 13 per cent of their disposable income in 2004 to 8.4 per cent in 2012. There are reams and reams of stats like this to show what an extraordinary success Labor's childcare policies were in government. We are very proud of these achievements not just because of the impact that they had on the childcare system and that they had on people's disposable income and their capacity to make ends meet but also because they were a contribution to the type of economy that we want in this country. We want an economy where more people participate, where more people benefit, where the gains of economic growth are more broadly and fairly shared. We make it easier for people to be simultaneously good workers and good parents.

The member for Adelaide has mentioned a compelling stat, and it is worth mentioning again. Research shows that the relationship between childcare affordability and women's workforce participation is strong. A one per cent increase in the gross childcare price results in a decrease to mothers' employment rate of 0.7 per cent. That is a substantial, concrete piece of evidence about the impact that these sorts of measures that are being proposed can have on participation in our economy. Lower income families have been proven to be the first to drop out of work as childcare costs increase. I have a lot of lower income families in my electorate. I am proud to represent them. One of the reasons I wanted to speak on this is that the changes that are being proposed would have a disproportionate impact on those people that I am so proud to represent. As the member for Charlton said, you cannot just talk the talk of workforce participation; you need to walk the walk if you are fair dinkum about workforce participation. It is on measures like this that the rubber really hits the road.

We have workforce challenges associated with the ageing of the population and all kinds of things. Participation is one of those workforce challenges. The participation rate has been bouncing around—in the last ABS data, I think it dropped down a little bit. In the long term, we have big challenges associated with finding the right amount of workers to support a growing proportion of retirees in our economy. That is why this debate is so crucial. If we make dads and especially mums choose between being good workers or good parents, we are selling them short. We are selling short their contribution to a stronger economy.

Labor is proud of its record in government. This bill should be split, as the member for Adelaide's amendment proposes, because we should consider the changes to the child care benefit separately. We will oppose the bill if it is not split. This bill is a backward step. Like so many other things in the budget, it is contrary to the guarantees the government gave families before the election. To all of those childcare workers and parents relying on the childcare system in my part of the world in Logan City and some of the surrounding Brisbane suburbs, I want you to know that this side of the House is standing up for people on low- and middle-incomes in the childcare system. We are standing up for childcare workers, like my sister Shelley. We will continue to do that and that is why I support the member for Adelaide, who moved this amendment, and all the good people on this side of the House who have spoken in favour of it

See this speech in context