Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for Social Inclusion. Given that the minister has stated that 40 per cent of ABC Learning’s childcare centres are not profitable, does the minister stand by the government’s commitment to build an extra 260 new childcare centres that will compete directly with the existing operators?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Indi for her question and I point out what I think are two very simple things. Firstly, Australia is a big country. People look—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All right! The member for Indi has understood that point. I am glad to have that reinforced. People look for child care locally either near where they live or near where they work. It is therefore absolutely possible for ABC Learning—or indeed for any childcare operator in this country—to say in respect of one centre that they do not have as many children in it as they would like and in respect of others that there are crying shortages in other parts of the country where people are looking for child care. Obviously, the government’s promise of introducing up to 260 new childcare centres was aimed at the following things: increasing supply in those parts of the country where people are short of centres and short of places; secondly, developing those new childcare centres in locations of convenience to parents. Most particularly we have looked at near or on school grounds so that parents can avoid the dreaded double drop-off and if they have children of childcare age and of school age they can have them dropped off in the one location.

Opposition members jeer at that as if that is something extraordinary—that a hardworking mum or a hardworking dad would want to drop their school-age children and their children of childcare age off at the same location. But let me tell you that that just goes to show how out of touch the Liberal Party is because there are mums and dads right around the country that would prefer that convenience.

Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What would you know about children?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the member for Indi that in respect of the second part of her question, if she thinks about it for a second the answer will be obvious to her. The Liberal Party is led by a man who says he knows about business and money. What the word ‘profit’ means is that there is something left over after you have acquitted all costs. You should not assume, as the member for Indi clearly does, that the only thing that goes into the business model of a childcare centre is the question of the number of vacancies. Obviously other costs also pertain to the question of profit, which is why the receiver of ABC, when working through whether a centre is profitable or not, will obviously be looking at all facts that pertain to that—vacancy rates would be one but costs such as the cost of the premises, the cost of the staff and other issues in relation to that centre will obviously pertain. So the member for Indi is taking an overly simplistic view of all of this.

I can understand why she would be taking an overly simplistic view of all of it because the Liberal Party has always taken an overly simplistic, neglectful view of child care—let the market rip, never think about anything else, never do anything else, never develop a policy whether in government or in opposition, and as Leader of the Opposition never say the same thing twice. The Leader of the Opposition has never said the same thing twice since ABC moved into voluntary administration on 6 November.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that the member for Aston withdraw the nasty, inappropriate and offensive remark that he made across the chamber during the Deputy Prime Minister’s response.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am unclear because I did not hear what was said but there has been a reaction to a comment. If the member for Aston is in a position to withdraw I would ask him to withdraw. But I am in the difficulty of not having heard the comment, to which there has been a reaction, though, which is an indication.

Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Aston.