Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

It is the issue of cost that I want to go to. Obviously there is no increase in the childcare rebate—and that sounds like a fairly simplistic sort of statement; indeed, we are having a cut to the childcare rebate so there is not extra assistance for families through the childcare rebate that we are discussing today. The chamber is getting conflicting information from various quarters. I must say the government is not doing a particularly good job of allaying our concerns about increases in costs. Quite frankly I think the government trying to purport that it is only going to fall upon a certain number of families so it is all okay is simply appalling. There should be no increase in childcare costs for any family, full stop. I refer to my comments yesterday about the similarity in figures between the $80.9 million that the government has wasted administering an emissions trading scheme that does not even exist and the $81 million that the government is going to find through this savings measure—and let us be very clear, the increase in fees for families is a savings measure for this government. It is no wonder that families are saying that, regardless of the size of the impact that the government keeps reassuring people about, not one single dollar should be applied as an increase to any family across the country. It is as simple as that. The government, if it had not wasted so much money, would not have to be raiding the piggy banks of the kids and the parents of families using these childcare centres. It is simply not on. No amount of justification from this government, saying it is only a few families or it is a minimal number of families, can justify an increase.

I will stand corrected if I am wrong, but my understanding is that the Greens' Senator Hanson-Young will be supporting the government on the changes to the childcare rebate. Is that not hypocrisy in the extreme? Let me take senators to comments Senator Hanson-Young has made on the record. Given that Senator Hanson-Young has yet to enter the debate, and we are probably getting very close to ending the debate, it is important that we have it on the record that Senator Hanson-Young said earlier this year:

We would be extremely concerned about any changes to the childcare rebate that would make it harder for families to access affordable Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services.

Rather than using cuts to childcare services as a potential budget savings measure, what the Government should be doing is a root and branch review of how ECEC services are funded at a federal level.

Perhaps I am wrong, but this is certainly an opportunity for Senator Hanson-Young to put her comments very clearly on the record. If she is supporting the government, why has she changed her view about using cuts to childcare services as a potential budget savings measure.

My colleague Senator Macdonald again raised the issue of electricity costs. I understand there is a childcare centre in Brisbane whose increased electricity cost as a result of the carbon tax will be $2,400 a year—that is an extra cost for the childcare centre. I raise this because this bill is raising money, as the government has said, to go to the National Quality Framework. Perhaps the parliamentary secretary can assist because it has become evident today that concern out there is prevalent and the government's assurance that this is not going to hurt many families simply does not tally up with what is out in the community. This savings measure, which is going towards the broader changes of the national quality framework, has many families concerned about increas­ing costs. I note that the Kids World Kindy director and vice president of Child Care New South Wales, Lienna Mandic, said the reforms will result in price increases of $12 to $20 a day. Parliamentary Secretary, I know you have indicated that that does not account for the assistance, but there is no way that the assistance from the govern­ment—indeed we are seeing cuts to the childcare rebate—will cover the $12 to $20 a day increase in costs or the increase in electricity costs which centres will have to bear. I asked the parliamentary secretary: is the vice president of Child Care New South Wales wrong when she says that the reforms will result in price increases of $12 to $20 a day? I note you have said, Parliamentary Secretary, that New South Wales has changed by and large, but is the vice president of Child Care New South Wales wrong?