Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. As the Minister for Education has just outlined: $9.2 billion for child care. It is up on last year and it will be up again next year and the year after that. Child care will continue to be provided and supported by this government, particularly for low- to middle-income families, for whom it has been a game-changer. We know that when Labor was in government childcare fees increased by 53 per cent. It was a complete muddle of a policy under those opposite. So, when we came into government, we worked on changing that scheme. Since we've changed the scheme, we have seen childcare fees, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, fall by 3.2 per cent, in terms of childcare costs. As a result of the changes we put in place, we saw workforce participation increase for men, and for women in particular, to record levels.

I notice that those opposite are saying here today that debt is too high and the deficit is too big. That is what they are saying. But they are also saying that the debt should be greater and we should spend more. Tonight, the Leader of the Opposition has an opportunity. If he wishes to spend more, he needs to say what in the budget he wants to spend less on.

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