Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a mum who has three children who went through child care before school, I know how important it is for working families and also for early years learning and school readiness. That's why I'm so pleased that, as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and look ahead, we're further supporting families, including families in my electorate of Lindsay, through our childcare initiatives in the 2021 budget. From childcare investments to more funding for preschool education, we the Morrison government are investing in families and our kids.

I am, as I said, passionate about this. But it's not just me saying this. I have childcare centres contacting me, and parents as well. Denise from Meek's Preschool & Early Learning Centre in Berkshire Park told me that this is a win-win for parents and their children, who will continue to receive great preschool learning opportunities in a safe and nurturing environment, whilst also helping hundreds of parents who would otherwise have to not work. So it's a win for families and a win for the economy. These reforms will enable around 40,000 parents to work an extra day each week and will boost GDP by up to $1.5 billion per year.

We also know that this will particularly support women in work. When I worked at the US Studies Centre, heading up a women in leadership initiative, women's workforce participation was one of the key things that we looked at and had issues with, and a lot of it came down to the availability and the affordability of child care as women had to leave the workforce to have children and then re-enter the workforce and continue their career paths. We have marked a record-high women's workforce participation of 61.5 per cent, and, by removing those disincentives, those barriers, we're further supporting women returning to work or taking those additional hours.

I know that these hours are so important as someone in an outer-metro seat, where people have to travel into work an hour each day. Over 300,000 people travel out of Western Sydney each day. Having affordable and accessible child care is so important for families in Lindsay. Denise said it best, I think: it is a win-win for all of us. We're also removing the $10,560 annual cap on the childcare subsidy, which will benefit around 18,000 families.

Our investment in this budget to further support parents to get back into work or increase their hours is focused on low- and middle-income-earning families. Around half of the families set to benefit will have a household income of under $130,000.

Our budget is building on the existing support we are providing for women to enter the workforce, including the $9.7 billion in annual childcare support and $2.3 billion in annual paid parental leave. These childcare initiatives are delivering targeted support where it's needed most. Already the average out-of-pocket cost is less than $4 an hour, and more than a quarter of families pay less than $2 an hour. When I speak with childcare centres and parents across my community, they feel this is absolutely reasonable and they support it. When you speak to people, you find out the truth. The hourly fee cap we introduced is working to keep downward pressure on fees, with 87.5 per cent of centre based day care services charging under the hourly rate cap.

Our preschool package will see more than $2 billion invested over the next four years. That will provide long-term stability and certainty for the early education sector, because we know that preschool learning leads to better educational outcomes later in life and helps children succeed before they begin school. I really do know the importance of this preschool education, having been employed by a play group, over a number years, many years ago when my children were young. This funding commitment will support access for all children to at least 15 hours a week of quality learning in the year before school. All children should have access to high quality early childhood education, regardless of their circumstances.

As the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women have said, this budget statement provides a $3.4 billion investment towards promoting values so that women right across our country can be economically secure. This is absolutely what this budget does. It reflects the responsibility we have towards the social and cultural diversity of Australian women and ensures that opportunities and protections are available to all women.

See this speech in context