Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of this motion brought by the honourable member for Moncrieff. While I'm there, I want to acknowledge the excellent work she's doing in her shadow portfolio of early education and youth. This motion deals with Labor's so-called cheaper childcare policy, which, unfortunately, has turned out to be anything but. As we know, child care is absolutely essential for women to be able to return to the workforce after they have had children.

The issue with child care is not just about the cost that we pay for it; the issue is also about ensuring that parents, when they are returning to the workforce, have access to quality child care. Child care is not just about childminding; child care is about educating the youngest members of our community and getting them ready for school. It is absolutely essential that when we talk about child care, we are not simply talking only about the cost. We must also be looking at the quality of the care that is being provided in these centres.

Although it was touted as cheaper child care, the reality is that Labor has now spent an eye-watering $4.7 billion on this subsidy but has not addressed the underlying issues that affect this sector—that is, there have not been additional childcare places provided, particularly in regional areas, nor has there been any attempt to attract and retain staff within this sector. That is the underlying issue why we are hearing about enormous waitlists. I know that the honourable member for Cowper recently spoke about it in his regional area. I'm in a metropolitan seat. In the electorate of Hughes, we have almost 7,000 childcare places; however, it costs, on average, $127 per day, per child, to put a child into day care. That means that for parents only putting one child into day care, it's close to $30,000 per year after tax that must be found. With the cost-of-living crisis that we are currently experiencing under this Labor government, that is prohibitive for many families. Instead of cheaper child care, we have seen out-of-pocket costs skyrocket. And I'm hearing across my electorate that early learning providers are increasing their fees. They have to do that to adjust to the ordinary costs involved in running a childcare centre—for example, the additional costs needed to pay for the groceries they provide for the children within their centre.

The last time that Labor was in government, childcare fees skyrocketed by 53 per cent in just six years. In the last nine months, it has been reported that, so far, they have increased across the board by eight per cent. So, while those opposite may start talking about the subsidy and how they are making child care cheaper for families, the reality is that it is not becoming any cheaper for families. There has been no plan put forward by this government to address the increase in fees. There has been no plan to address access to childcare spaces. There has been no plan to address the current workforce pressures faced by educators. In particular, there has been no plan to address the childcare shortages in remote and regional communities.

When introducing the child care policy initially, the Albanese government said that this policy would get thousands of women back into the workforce. However, this has not occurred, and it has not occurred because there have been no additional childcare places provided. The underlying issue of a lack of supply has not been addressed by the government's $4.7 billion in expenditure to date. So I support this motion brought forward by the member for Moncrieff. Child care is essential to enabling women, particularly, to return to work, but the Labor government must do a lot better to address underlying issues in the childcare sector.

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