Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the senator for his question in deference to Senator Fifield's linguistic skills. Of course, members of the chamber will recall Labor's apparently ironclad 2007 election promise, I think it was, that they would make child care more affordable. 'More affordable'—what an interesting concept! When the Department of Education's Child Care and Early Learning in Summary report for the September quarter was released earlier this month, it showed quite clearly that childcare fees had skyrocketed by 53 per cent across the six years of the Labor government. The findings of that report were confirmed by the NATSEM report released earlier this week. For an average family using long day care, that equates to $75 extra in fees per week or more than $3,500 a year.