Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I've been in the chamber this afternoon during this MPI, and I just want to make a point about the speeches. I note that there have been a lot of interjections towards the members on this side. People in the chamber have been quite respectful in not interrupting the other side, allowing them to make their point. Whether we agree or disagree—and I appreciate that this is a chamber of debate—we can do so with some sort of decorum. It's why people up in the gallery walk out of this place shaking their heads, to be perfectly honest. I think we really, on both sides, need to have a look at ourselves and pull our socks up. It's not why I came into this place; I came into the place to be constructive. I'm not lecturing the other side; I'm simply making the point that it achieves nothing.

In relation to the member's last contribution, I accept the childcare changes. Fantastic. It's great that mums and dads earning up to $530,000 can access child care and rebates, but the fact is, in the regions, we can't get any childcare places. Now, when I make that point, I don't make the point to criticise the government. I make the point because it's a fact, and I urge the government—

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