Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. The point is that the government is on the verge of the most significant childcare reform in decades. As has been noted by the Prime Minister in an earlier answer, that very substantial $1.66 billion investment in child care has to be paid for—famously described by the member for Jagajaga as 'having to be paid for somehow'. We have always said from the very start of this process that the way in which we would find the appropriate savings funds to pay for generational reform to child care was through the family tax benefit system. The approach that has been settled on and the approach which the crossbench—or at least a majority of the crossbench—have agreed is a reasonable approach is a simple approach, and that is to pause the indexation of family tax benefit payments for two years starting on 1 July of this year. That will allow the government to achieve much-needed and generational reform to child care. No family would lose a dollar—not a dollar—

Ms Macklin interjecting—

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