Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

What this government has done is make national decisions about families, in the national interest. And, yes, the cost of child care for families has come down. Child care has become more affordable. Our once-in-a-generation reforms have delivered a three per cent reduction in out-of-pocket costs for parents since our package was introduced, and, more importantly, they've increased female activity levels. This is really important. The proportion of female parents reporting more than 48 hours of activity per fortnight rose from 56 per cent before the introduction of our package to 63 per cent in November last year.

Managing a budget and managing the interests of families are difficult decisions that this government has made well. We did it this way: we had a Productivity Commission review, we took the advice of the Productivity Commission and we implemented the recommendations through the parliamentary process. That review recommended that means-tested and targeted funding be applied to child care and that a childcare safety net support those who need it. So it is means tested and targeted, with a childcare safety net to make sure that we support families who needed it. Labor's policy is lots of money for the top end of town.

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