Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I understand there are some sensitivities about highlighting why we are having this discussion and how it fits together as part of a coordinated strategy to support families to be their best selves and work towards better opportunities for themselves and their children into the future. This is what this bill is about. It is not only about the ambition and the need and the public policy goals that even Labor luminaries articulate; it is about assembling the means, the resources and the funding to do that in a way that is sustainable. That is the second part of it. You need to be clear what it is you are trying to achieve and set out those objectives and the public policy initiatives that enable you to achieve those goals, and then you need to find the funding. Part of the funding is what we are talking about today, if I can help the former childcare minister understand it. It is not just about spending money. I know Labor are spectacular and world champions at that, but you actually need to raise the money as well. I know it is a novel idea and that it did not trouble the former Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government too often. They were happy to just keep spending it. They never had to worry about where to raise it. Well, this is the other side of the agenda. This is the other side of the profit and loss. You have to raise revenue and find the resources to be able to spend it, former Minister. It is not that complicated. You need to raise the resources to be able to deploy them, and that is what this discussion is about. It is about prioritising key areas of expenditure to support families as they seek to improve their circumstances. It is about having a Jobs for Families childcare package that encourages people—

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