Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The government have listened to the community, to the opposition and to crossbenchers, and we recognise, as I think all honourable members do, that our welfare costs are enormous. The social security budget alone is $154 billion a year and the family tax benefit costs around $20 billion a year. So we always seek to balance the need to support families, particularly those in need such as single parents, ensure our system is sustainable and affordable, simplify the welfare system, encourage workforce participation and encourage more holistic support of a child's development, particularly through child care and early learning.

As all the parents here are very well aware, the child is with the parents for a long time, and they need help in different ways right through the child's life. We have reformed the proposal for the family tax benefit B payment so that eligible families will continue to receive it until the child turns 13, as opposed to it cutting out at the age of six. Those changes will benefit around 700,000 families. We recognise that single-parent families and families where a grandparent is a carer have particular challenges when it comes to child care, and that is why we will continue to provide a supplemental payment of $1,000 a year to those families while a child is aged between 13 and 16.

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