Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and Disability Reform. Will the minister update the House on how the government is building a fairer future for families in this country? What would it mean for families if these important reforms were eroded?

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Greenway very much for her question and for the way in which she stands up for the interests of young families, especially young families in her electorate of Greenway.

This government is all about building a fairer Australia and making sure that we provide support to families when they need it most. That is why this government delivered Australia's first national paid parental leave scheme, which has seen so many parents able to take time off work to spend that precious time with their newborn babies. And it is why this government has introduced the schoolkids bonus—making sure that parents get support when their kids go back to school and helping to pay for school books, uniforms and all the things that kids need at school.

We have made the right choices to support families. By contrast, those opposite just want to claw back the schoolkids bonus. They would take $15,000 out of the pockets of an average family over the school lives of their children. That is what this Leader of the Opposition would do. At the same time that he wants to do that, this Leader of the Opposition wants to pay a wealthy mother $75,000 to have a baby—$75,000 to have a baby, while he rips away $15,000 out of the pockets of an average family. That is the sort of choice in front of Australian families today.

The way that the Leader of the Opposition is going to pay for his rolled-gold paid parental leave scheme is by jacking up a new levy on business. The banks have been out there today telling everyone exactly what is going to happen if this Leader of the Opposition gets his way. The banks will be out there increasing the cost of mortgages and increasing credit-card costs. As the Treasurer has already indicated—and the member for North Sydney knows this is true—the member for North Sydney has been heard saying, 'If you put an extra tax on the banks they will just pass it through in increased costs to consumers.' The member for North Sydney knows that his Leader of the Opposition is going to put an extra tax on the banks, and up will go the cost of credit cards and up will go the cost of mortgages at the same time that they rip away money from families.