Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Indi's amendment to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Omnibus Savings and Child Care Reform) Bill 2017. What we are seeing is a growing divide between regional Australia and metropolitan Australia. This is a very clear example of how government policy will make life in regional Australia more and more difficult. I particularly support the member for Indi's comments in relation to the mobile services. We need to support farming families. At times I do not think people in this House realise that when harvest is on mum is on the tractor, dad is on the tractor—who is going to look after the children? We are talking about a mobile service where sometimes there is no shop-front childcare centre for hours away. To put those services under threat is a great disservice to regional Australia, and it is a great disservice to all of Australia.

I would also like to touch on the budget-based funded sites. The member for Adelaide, the shadow minister, has talked about this. There are 245 budget-based sites, mainly in remote and regional Australia. They overwhelmingly support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young children. Seventy-three of these are in the Northern Territory. We know that if a review happens when they are gone, they are just gone. We know that they have got nowhere to transition to, and they are telling us that at least 50 per cent of their services will close. There is no way that they can be funded under what is generally planned for a metropolitan service. And if we in this parliament are serious about closing the gap—we have only just had a number of speeches on closing the gap in the last sitting week—if we are truly serious about addressing Indigenous disadvantage in this nation, then we will ensure that children have an opportunity to access early learning services and that they have an opportunity, with their parents, to access health education and to access a whole range of social services within these budget based services.

Through you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would ask the minister to please reconsider the funding of this. This can be funded within the existing childcare envelope. Look, I commend the government for the fact that they have been able to stop more than $1 billion worth of rorting that they found within the childcare funding envelope. A very, very small proportion of that money would fund excellent budget based sites across remote Australia as well as mobile services across regional Australia and we would see more of a move towards actually closing the gap in this place. Thank you for allowing me to speak, Mr Deputy Speaker, and, again, I commend the member for Indi and everybody who is speaking on this. This is absolutely too critical for us to just let this be waived through.

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