Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Would the minister advise the House of steps the government is taking to build on its record support for families using child care?

Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Greenway for her obvious passion for the families in her electorate. She is only too well aware that, since 1996, the federal government—the Howard government—has more than doubled the number of child-care places and more than doubled expenditure on child care in this country, providing more opportunities for families. Last night the Treasurer announced a further major investment in child care by the Howard government. For the very first time, not only will long day care be uncapped but family day care will be totally uncapped and outside of school hours care will be uncapped.

This means that, if a constituent in the electorate of Greenway, in the suburb of Glenwood, for argument’s sake, were to come to the member for Greenway and say, ‘I need an after school care place in that suburb,’ she does not have to say, ‘I have to wait for some bureaucratic round.’ She can say, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go and produce it,’ because the federal government will fund those places as long as they meet the basic criteria of safety. We will have uncapped family day care. We will have uncapped outside of school hours care and we will have uncapped long day care.

With this government’s assistance, we will see more people entering the workforce and more women entering the workforce for the first time. We are extending the support through JET so that, when these people are making that crucial decision to go from welfare into work, not only will they get the child-care rebate and the child-care benefit but they will also be able to have most, if not all, of that gap paid in some instances so that they do not have to see child-care costs as a barrier at all. That is the commitment that the Howard government has to people re-entering the workforce and to giving them choice in child care.

We are spending nearly $10 billion over the next four years on child care, and we believe compliance is essential. So we will be ensuring that not only every child-care place is a quality, safe environment but every taxpayer’s dollar is spent on delivering a child-care place. We will be doing that through a maintenance program using new IT, rolling it out across the country, supporting it with compliance and uncapping the places. This is fundamental reform which will give parents choice in where they place their child and which will ensure that they can have the quality of child care that they deserve.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer’s budget announcement that the government will lift the cap on family day care and out of school hours care places. Doesn’t the Treasurer realise that there are almost 100,000 after school care places and family day care places announced in previous budgets that are still unused, mainly because of the shortage of child-care workers? How exactly will lifting the cap help if there is no-one to deliver the services?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs just explained the answer to that very well. What he said was that, as long as there is no cap on places and there is unfulfilled demand, any eligible person who can set up a facility is free to do so and to attract child-care benefit. I know that in my electorate there will be plenty of schools that will want to set up outside school hours care. Up until now, the problem has always been that the places were limited. I do not know if the member for Sydney is in contact with schools in her electorate, but certainly the ones that contact me say, ‘Can you lift the limits?’ I am going to go back to them and say: ‘There no longer are any limits. As a consequence, if you have people who want to use a service, set it up and get it going they will get the child-care benefit and, in addition—something the Australian Labor Party never had the wit to introduce—a child-care rebate which from 1 July this year is going to give a 30 per cent rebate on out-of-pocket costs up to $4,000 per child per annum.’ Let me put that in context. If you have two kids in child care, that could be $8,000. If you have three kids in child care, that could be $12,000. These are great announcements that would be welcomed by Australian families, and we look forward to the Australian Labor Party supporting them.

Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister. Would the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House how last night’s budget will assist our exporters to contribute to Australia’s continued strong economic performance?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kalgoorlie for his question. Of course, the electorate the member represents is a significant contributor to the export effort and the strength of the Australian economy at the moment. The budget delivered by the Treasurer last night is strong and comprehensive. It has been delivered through good government, good economic management and, most of all, through the discipline with which the government has managed the Australian economy over the last 10 years—a discipline which had not been shown by previous governments in Australia, particularly Labor governments. I congratulate the Treasurer on his fiscal prowess in delivering this budget—for striking the right balance for all Australians in this budget.

The budget forecasts that exports will rise by seven per cent in volume terms in 2006-07, and that is off a relatively high base, so exports are going to continue to grow. The budget announced an extra $2.3 billion investment in much needed transport infrastructure, which is going to be crucial in getting exports to the ports and out of Australia. The announced increase in the depreciation allowance to 200 per cent for businesses will encourage investment by Australia’s exporting businesses. It will make them much more competitive in the international marketplace. As well, the budget provides $23.3 million to continue our TradeStart office network across Australia to reach out, encourage and help new exporters in particular to get into export markets. It also contains $160 million for the Export Market Development Grants Scheme, which, particularly for new exporters, is a very valuable resource for getting into new markets and supporting their efforts in opening up new markets.

Importantly, the budget delivers another surplus. A $10.8 billion surplus in the Australian economy is forecast. It is further proof of the government’s stable and sound economic management of this country. We will continue to maintain a strong and stable economy, which is the most important thing the business community needs to compete in the international marketplace. This is a responsible budget which invests in critical infrastructure for the future. It also invests in research and development in technology, and it gives the private sector the opportunity to invest in their future and be more competitive on the world stage.