Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take one particular issue from all that you were talking about, because I think it encapsulates the problem that we are facing. Surely, the BBFs have not been working and they need review. They are not particular, and that is the whole point: they have become particular and outside the mainstream. What we are trying to say is: design a service that stops rural and regional Australia being particular. That is what the BBFs have done and it definitely needs to change. There is no argument about it. What we are doing is actually perpetuating a system that is not working by keeping rural and regional Australia as a special case.

What we are asking of the really clever people in the government and the system is to design something where rural and regional Australia, farming women and Aboriginal families are not special and are not different. We are asking for the clever brains to design a system that says, 'Ah, we've got diversity in Australia. We can't have one size fits all. We're clever enough to manage this. And we are, and we have lots of examples where we do it, but just on this really particular issue of child care we have one size fits everybody but we have made rural and regional Australia and Aboriginal families special and different.'

That is the real critique that we have of this legislation. I am not going to speak again after this, but I would really like to acknowledge the comments of my colleague from Denison. What would it take for the government to say: 'Cathy, member for Indi, really good idea'? It would be such a good thing if you guys could do this because it would save the enormous embarrassment that is going to happen in a minute when we have the division. I am going to put on my webpage a map that shows where all these BBFs are; and the members who represent rural and regional seats are going to have to vote against something which is clearly in their own interests. Anyhow, enough—we have had the debate; I think it is time to bring on the vote.

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