Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I should highlight that we are not actually dealing with the carbon tax measures now, so the information you are requesting, which is specifically related to the impact of a carbon tax on childcare centres, is not immediately available to me. Indeed I am not aware of whether we could distinguish between Catholic and other services in that regard. I would encourage you, though, to raise such important issues in the debate on the carbon tax, because, as other senators have pointed out today, cost increases that may occur in child care due to increases in energy charges are an important issue, which is why the government has developed the householder assistance and the income support arrangements to support families through any additional costs that may be associated with us putting a price signal on carbon.