Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We all want to see adequate and affordable childcare services available to Australian families. That's not the debate that we are having here. The question we are talking about is how we do that and the best and most efficient use of taxpayer funds to achieve that objective. Child care is crucial to allow parents to work, to make an income and to contribute to their communities. Unfortunately, like so many bills we debate in this House, this is another bill by Labor with a catchy headline but that underneath the spin will make accessing early child care even harder for working parents and all parents. Those opposite use the phrase 'guaranteed access'. Every speaker is talking about guaranteed access. Well, the problem with that in my community is that there is not guaranteed access to child care because my residents are not able to get into a childcare centre, because we, like so many other communities, particularly regional, rural and peri-urban communities, have a childcare desert. I know many members on this side and on the crossbench get frustrated when our comments are construed as anti-childcare, because they're not.

Being in government is about choices and priorities and where you invest those taxpayer dollars. This three-day guarantee will provide all families, up to a combined income of $533,000 a year, with access to 72 hours a fortnight of subsidised childcare. As I said, that guarantee is only there if you can find a place. This initiative won't achieve its goal without increasing access and supply, because it's only going to be harder for working families to find a childcare place if more people are trying to put their children into childcare without more places being available. That's supply and demand, demand and supply. That's economics 101, which we know is not the strong suit of this government. And, in addition, there are several issues with the bill, including the removal of priority access for working families. It does nothing to increase flexibility for families and it does not address the rise in childcare costs under the Albanese Labor government.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak about the childcare desert in my community. Finding child care has become one of the biggest concerns for parents of young children in Casey, especially in this cost-of-living crisis. Families have been prevented from any attempts to provide additional income, at a time when interest rates and living costs are through the roof, due to their inability to find child care. For these parents, there is little point in having access to three days of care when there's no care available. Many residents in my community work outside our region, with an average commuting distance of 28 kilometres—significantly higher than the Victorian average of 16.7 kilometres. For these families, access to long day care hours is essential to account for their commute times, and limited access to long day care in my community is leaving families without adequate care for their children. It's leaving parents to make that difficult compromise between career advancement, additional income for their family and their family obligations.

According to data from the Mitchell Institute, in Coldstream there are still nine children for every one long day care place available. The towns of Silvan, Monbulk, Sassafras, Wandin and Seville have ratios ranging from 10 to over 50 children per childcare place, making placements highly competitive and leaving many parents without options. In Ferny Creek, there are between three and seven children per childcare place, and between seven and 18 children per long day care place. In Olinda, there are between two and five children per place, and between eight and 30 per long day care place. Belgrave, Warburton and the surrounding areas are also facing ongoing shortages in this access to child care.

When families in my community are experiencing such difficulties, it's hard to support this legislation, because it does not guarantee or prioritise access for working families who need early childhood care so they can work. But those who are not working, studying or volunteering will also be subsidised, and, over the last three years, Labor has failed to meaningfully address supply-side constraints. Families in childcare deserts who have little to no access to childcare at all will be the most disadvantaged by this policy. This is despite the ACCC's final report into early childhood education finding:

A single approach to government regulation and intervention ('one size fits all') is unlikely to deliver government objectives or meet community expectations across all childcare markets in Australia.

Debate interrupted.

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