Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Improving Assistance for Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Families) Bill 2020. The bill has been drafted to address feedback from the childcare sector. It was one of the most common inquiries from stakeholder groups that I received when the raft of COVID-19 assistance packages came out. Stakeholders have raised areas where improvements can be made to streamline access to additional childcare subsidy in the context of the new childcare package implementation that occurred on 2 July 2018 and, more recently, in the submissions to the Senate inquiry into the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Building on the Child Care Package) Bill 2019.

The Morrison-McCormack government's primary aim is to support families and the childcare sector during the COVID-19 crisis to ensure that quality early childhood education and care is available to vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families.

Let me just say that I believe having children is a choice, and a choice that brings with it responsibility—responsibility to be financially, legally and morally responsible for those children. Having children doesn't necessarily benefit society, yet society is increasingly being expected to bear out the responsibility for them. Our Greens friends over there, who keep scaremongering about the climate crisis and screaming for us all to live in mud huts in the dark and cold, neglect to address the single biggest driver of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, habitat destruction and species extinction in the world, and that is overpopulation. So instead of blaming us for all the evils on the planet and calling for us to live like hairy, tree-climbing primates, perhaps they should turn their attention to what is contributing to our world population at an escalating rate.

Having said that, however, I acknowledge and recognise that families are a vitally important part of the fabric of our society. Particularly in Australia, families are something that we all treasure and value immensely. If parents and families abdicate their responsibilities, our society dictates that the government will step in and make sure that people aren't neglected and disadvantaged. This government takes its responsibilities very seriously and continually excels in looking after Australian families and businesses.

Let me take us back to a decision that seemed like a good one at the time but which has had long-term unintended consequences for the Northern Territory. The payment that came to be known as the baby bonus was introduced by the Howard government in 2004. It was then called the maternity payment and it was a non-means-tested lump sum replacement of the first child tax rebate and the maternity allowance. I love the work of the former PM and his revolutionary government, but this decision was a bad one for the Northern Territory. It immediately came to be seen not as a baby bonus but as a 'buy things and spend it on yourself' bonus by many young girls. Many immediately began having one baby after another just for the $5,000 cash bonus. These babies were frequently handed over to grandparents and other relatives to raise.

Sales of big-screen TVs, PlayStations, mobile phones and, yes, drugs and alcohol boomed. Very little, if any, of this bonus was actually spent on the vulnerable children. These baby bonus babies are now teenagers and have contributed in some cases to a generation of breakers. Towns such as Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs are suffering from an unprecedented plague of youth crime. Gangs of kids as young as nine are running unchecked through town, day and night, breaking, rock throwing, assaulting people and burning down buildings and public infrastructure.

Our shambolic NT Labor government is standing by haplessly and literally watching the NT crumble and burn. I speak regularly with the Mayor of Tennant Creek, Steve Edgington, and he continually informs me of the spiralling scourge of youth crime in his town. He told me just a few weeks ago that the town's only supermarket was burnt down by a gang of 12- and 13-year-old girls. These are not bad kids; they have just been failed by their parents and the system. Many of them have FASD, little education, and poor or absent parenting, and they don't see anything positive in their futures. It is imperative that we do not repeat this process and in 10 years time end up with a generation of COVID-problem youth.

That is one of the many reasons that this government is listening continually to advice and providing support where it's needed. In this case, this bill has been drafted to address feedback from the childcare sector. Stakeholders have raised areas where improvements can be made to streamline access to additional childcare subsidy in the context of the new childcare package implementation that occurred on 2 July 2018. In the Northern Territory, childcare and early educators rely heavily on workers who are not covered by JobKeeper, such as temporary visa holders and casuals who have not been working for them for 12 months. This is a feature in general of the NT's itinerant workforce. These changes will address that issue and support childcare providers and early childhood educators.

The Australian government paid almost $50 million in additional childcare subsidies to cover childcare costs for 21,500 children in 2018-2019. The bill will cut the red tape that's impacting upon providers, families and governments, improving access to services for vulnerable children. It will do this by extending the backdating of the additional childcare subsidy certificates and determinations from 28 days to up to 13 weeks in exceptional circumstances. This, importantly, helps provide care for children under a long-term protection order, like children in foster care. The bill will also extend from 13 weeks to up to 12 months the period that additional subsidy determination can be given for children on long-term child protection orders, including, again, those in foster care, and it will clarify that a provider is eligible for the additional subsidy in respect of certain defined classes of children. Again, children in foster care would fall under this.

These changes recognise the support that vulnerable children need over longer periods, and I particularly welcome these changes in the Northern Territory where, sadly, our children face significant adversity. A recent Productivity Commission report found that children in the Northern Territory are more likely than Australian children overall to come into contact with the child protection system and face higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage, depriving them of the best start in life. This isn't new. It is well documented in the Territory that a history of family and domestic violence and lower socioeconomic status are compounded by isolation, particularly in rural and remote communities, and this contributes to a higher risk of a child being vulnerable to neglect and mistreatment. Children in our isolated communities are also less likely to access the care and early education they need, which places them at significant disadvantage alongside children from areas with ample access to care and early education.

In the NT, most childcare centres are small, family run, not-for-profit or solo operator run businesses. They rely heavily on workers not covered by JobKeeper. This is a feature that we are faced with generally in the Northern Territory, and these changes will address that issue. It is important to note that two-thirds of funding for early childhood education in the NT comes from the federal government, and I thank this government for the provision of that funding for NT families and children and small businesses. I applaud our government for this measure to help keep our children safe and ensure they receive the care and early childhood education they desperately need, at the same time providing support to many of our small businesses and solo operators.

Under our COVID-19 childcare relief package, around 99 per cent of childcare providers were able to keep their doors open. The coalition government is providing record levels of funding in child care. We are committed to quality, affordable child care, particularly as we navigate COVID-19. Since 13 July, our transition package, including a payment of 25 per cent of a provider's pre-COVID revenue, has supported centres around Australia, including in the Northern Territory. This bill demonstrates our commitment to improving access to child care for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families and to cutting red tape for families and childcare providers.

I would also like to mention the outstanding result achieved by the Country Liberal Party in last Saturday's Northern Territory election. Going into the election, the Country Liberal Party held two seats. With one of those members retiring, this was effectively one. Whilst counting is continuing as I speak, the CLP looks to have secured five seats and possibly up to eight. This is not only a magnificent achievement by the CLP; it is a reflection of Labor's disastrous management of a decimated economy and complete loss of control of law and order. It is also confirmation of this federal government's performance generally and with respect to COVID with legislation such as this. This government supports families and supports a strong and vibrant childcare sector.