Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Conroy. Can the minister advise the Senate how the government is supporting families with school-aged children?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could I thank the senator for her question and her ongoing interest in the government's support for families. For many Australian families the beginning of the school year can be a difficult time due to the extra costs that come with uniforms, books and transport. That is why the Gillard government introduced the schoolkids bonus. The year's first instalment of the schoolkids bonus has just been paid to 1.2 million families around the country. That is real help for Australian families in the form of $205 for each primary school child and $410 for each high school child in the bank. Families have another payment locked in before term 3 starts later this year. This is not an aspiration; this is not a stunt; this is not which families will get what from those opposite—it is real help in the bank today.

Just last week the Leader of the Opposition confirmed again that he will cut the schoolkids bonus. That is right: he will cut the schoolkids bonus. That means that families with two kids would be $15,000 worse off over the time of their schooling. The coalition are claiming that they care about costs of living pressures when they want to rip $15,000 out of the bank accounts of 1.2 million families. This just demonstrates that they are without vision, without knowledge and without understanding of the pressures on Australian families.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have a supplementary. Can the minister advise what else the government is doing to support families?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am proud of the Gillard government's record of support for families. I am proud that we have delivered Australia's first national Paid Parental Leave scheme, benefiting more than 250,000 parents so far. I am proud that we have increased the childcare rebate from 30 to 50 per cent of out-of-pocket costs and that we have delivered income tax cuts to workers earning up to $80,000.

But, ultimately, families need more to secure a brighter future for their kids. That is why Labor is building infrastructure like the National Broadband Network; that is why we are building a world-class education system through a National Plan for School Improvement; and that is why we are building a National Disability Insurance Scheme. (Time expired)

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have a second supplementary. Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches to supporting families?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition waves around a brochure full of slogans claiming that he supports Australian families, but it is clear that you cannot trust Tony Abbott. He says he wants lower taxes—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Conroy, you need to refer to people in the other place by their correct title.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My apologies, Mr President. You cannot trust Mr Tony Abbott. He says he wants lower taxes, but his real plan is to slap a new tax on Australian businesses to pay for his unfair $4.5 billion a year paid parental leave policy. He has a real plan to scrap the government's tax cuts for low- and middle-income families and he has a real plan to scrap the schoolkids bonus. He also, despite all of that, has a real plan to scrap the NBN. He wants to leave Australia with the broadband equivalent of a one-lane Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Time expired)