Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I must say that I am extremely disappointed to hear again from the minister an absolute lack of acceptance of what the experts have said. The minister has spent months in consultation and talk with representatives and experts from the childcare and early childhood sector. For months they have appealed to the minister about the current restrictions on access to the safety net, which are not broad enough. This is going to leave the most vulnerable children out in the cold.

The minister went so far as telling Patricia Karvelas on ABC RN Drive, 'We are committed to doing what the sector and the experts advise us is optimal.' Well, he is doing exactly the opposite tonight—exactly the opposite! He is turning a blind eye to the evidence put before him and rejecting the advice that has been put to him over and over again, that there are going to be vulnerable children and low-income families who lose out.

The minister has spoken a lot tonight about working families. And, yes, if you have a job and if both parents are working then this package is going to be pretty good for you. We all accept that. But for the most vulnerable people in our communities, for those who do not have both parents working for a variety of reasons, those children will suffer. It is the hardest-working first and the most vulnerable last for this government. The hardest-working first and the very vulnerable and the most vulnerable last. That is what we have got from the minister tonight—reject the expert advice, throw low-income families under a bus and put vulnerable children last. It is pathetic.

The CHAIR: The question is that Australian Greens requests for amendments (1) to (7) on sheet 8110 be agreed to.