Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Last night in Senate estimates, the Prime Minister's Cabinet Secretary revealed that new cuts to family payments were linked to the government's childcare package 'for political purposes'. Why is the Prime Minister cutting $2½ thousand from single parent families earning $60,000 a year for political purposes?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition leader seems determined to run a scare campaign on stand-alone measures. On this side of the House, we are focused on implementing an entire package of reforms that will ensure the way we are delivering support for families is sustainable and better targeted. The revised package introduced by the Minister for Social Services must be considered in the context of a range of Australian government family payments.

Grandparent carers, for example, are eligible for a number of Australian government family payments, such as family tax benefit, parenting payment and childcare benefit, if they meet the eligibility requirements. For those grandparents on an income support payment, grandparent childcare benefit helps with the cost of raising children. Under this benefit, grandparents currently receive up to 100 hours a fortnight of free child care. In addition, if the child meets the criteria of an orphan, the grandparent carer may be eligible for a double orphan pension. Grandparent carers could also obtain a non-income-tested foster child healthcare card for the children in their care.

We recognise that single parent families and families where a grandparent is the carer have particular challenges when it comes to child care. That is why we will continue to provide a supplemental payment of $1,000 a year to those families while a child is aged between 13 and 16. In addition, all eligible families with a youngest child under one will receive an extra $1,000 a year. So the government is committed to supporting parents in raising their children. We are also committed to ensuring the family and childcare systems remain targeted, sustainable and effective in the long term by reforming family tax benefits.

The package will help pay for the $3.5 billion Jobs for Families package. If Labor are supporting the Jobs for Families package, which the member for Jagajaga on one occasion said must be paid for somehow, I would invite them to announce how they plan to pay for it if they do not agree with the plan that has been laid out by the Minister the Social Services.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Franklin, the member for Ballarat and the member for Jagajaga will cease interjecting.