Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's my great pleasure to round out this MPI debate on childcare fees this afternoon. On behalf of coalition members and the government, I'd like to start by congratulating and thanking childcare workers and early education workers, who are doing such a great job right across Australia. They certainly are doing so in my electorate of Ryan. Those workers have absolutely worked their guts out, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic. They do a marvellous job in supporting the early education of our kids, as well as supporting mums and dads—families right around Australia—to make the best choices for their family.

So with a heavy heart I say that, frankly, they deserve better than the proposed policies of the member for Kingston. The member for Kingston unfortunately has a bit of a track record in this place when it comes to her policy prescriptions. They're a bit brash. They don't always come to fruition. You can see that because she was one of the many members on the other side of the chamber who said that when JobKeeper ended the sky was going to fall in, unemployment would go through the roof and there would be mass casualties all over the place. It didn't happen. In fact, we have seen unemployment drop again this month—consecutively, month on month on month, because of this government's policy prescriptions. It's dropped now to 5.1 per cent, a result that those on the other side, you'd think, along with all members of this place, would be trumpeting, but of course for Labor it's not actually about how many people are in jobs; it's about how many people have signed up with their union mates. When it comes to creating jobs, it's this side that bears the responsibility for that, because we on this side of the House want to make sure that Australians find work and find that opportunity for their families.

The member for Kingston, just as she was wrong in her policy prescriptions when it came to JobKeeper, unemployment and getting people into jobs, is wrong with her policy prescriptions when it comes to child care. What is her fix for child care? What is Labor and the member for Kingston's proposed fix for child care? It is what Labor always do, which is throwing more money at it—more of your money, more of your taxes, more money out of your pocket because they think they can spend to fix anything. Labor's policy will see the wealthiest of families in this country benefit, at a cost of $20.3 billion over the forward estimates. They have never seen an issue they didn't think they could spend their way out of, and it's not their money at the end of the day. It's your money. It's coming out of your pocket. They will go to yet another election with very expensive policies because for them it's not about thinking through the complexities of issues and trying to find the best policy prescriptions; it's simply about how much of your money they can throw at it. They will go to an election again and ask to reach into your pockets even deeper so that they can provide another $20 billion over the forward estimates—not so that people who need support to get their kids into child care will get it but so that the wealthiest of Australian families will get the support.

No wonder they are sensitive on this issue—so sensitive that they need to run another MPI on it. Labor do not have a good story to tell when it comes to child care. Fifty-three per cent—under Labor, that's how much childcare fees increased over just six years. That is a rate of almost 10 per cent a year. What an appalling track record. The hypocrisy they must have to swallow to come into this place and talk about childcare fees when they presided over that kind of record—it takes some doing. Even I am impressed.

Under this government we have put in place a targeted system that gives the greatest level of support to those who need it most, and that's an important distinction. We have kept out-of-pocket costs low to support families on low and middle incomes in particular. Families are paying less for child care under our childcare package, and around 90 per cent of families are entitled to a childcare subsidy. We are spending, in fact, 77 per cent more than Labor was when it left government, and over 280,000 more kids are in child care because of the policy settings of this government. That's enabling choices for their families, It's enabling choices for their parents to re-enter the workforce. It's enabling families to do what they know is best for their own kids and their own families. They're being supported and enabled by this government. (Time expired)

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