Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his 2007 promise to build 260 new childcare centres to, in his own words, ‘end the dreaded double drop-off’. Now that the Prime Minister has abandoned his commitment to build these childcare centres, why should Australian families struggling to find childcare places for their children believe he will ever deliver on any of his promises?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. Can I also draw her attention to the fact, when it comes to the affordability of child care, that the government has increased the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. This has been a huge boon to working families. We have some 77,000 families that have benefited from the government’s policy to lift that, meaning up to a threshold of $7,500 a year. Secondly, on the question of centres—

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is about relevance. The question was about abandoning the 260 places, not the cost.

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

Again, by the end of the question, the question was very wide. The Prime Minister is responding to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am advised that four years ago there were some 1,000 fewer long day care centres and child care was of course less affordable, for the reason I just referred to. Since then we have increased the childcare rebate, ABC Learning has collapsed and the government has helped re-establish the market by ensuring as many centres as possible kept their doors open. Following reassessment of the market, the data has indicated that supply is largely keeping pace with demand. The government, therefore, will remain attentive to any particular emergence of supply gaps in parts of the nation. We have, however, acted on the basis of close consultation with the industry.

The Child Care Vacancies Quarterly snapshot showed that 91 per cent of reporting long day care services recorded vacancies, including 90 per cent in major cities and 98 per cent in very remote and remote areas. In light of this evidence, the government reached the decision that has been articulated by the minister in recent days. Again I would draw the honourable member’s attention to the circumstances which the Deputy Prime Minister and others had to confront following the collapse of ABC Learning. My advice or recollection is that that was about one-quarter or one-third of centres right across the nation. The fact that the government stepped in and kept that network afloat in terms of making sure that so many families out there were not left in the lurch is an extraordinary achievement in itself. That, on top of the other factors I referred to, goes to the whole range of provision of centres across the country, the vacancy snapshots that we referred to—the basis, therefore, for the government’s decision.

Finally, on the affordability question, I believe it speaks for itself—a 30 per cent to 50 per cent increase in the childcare rebate up to a threshold of $7,500 per child per year, a significant pre-election commitment by this government which we have honoured in full because working families need access to affordable child care.