Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Education and Training, Minister Birmingham. Will the minister inform the Senate what the government is doing to support working parents through its jobs for families child care package?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McKenzie for her question, and for highlighting the fact, in doing so, that the government has today introduced into the House of Representatives the most comprehensive reforms to Australia's childcare system in many years, reforms that will help and make better off around one million Australian families.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many worse off?

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He doesn't like to talk about that. It's a bunch of blokes talking about mums.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On my left!

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These reforms will make childcare services and early education services more accessible, more affordable and better managed, and provide a far better foundation for the future in that regard. They are estimated to encourage around 230,000 Australian families to be able to work more, to engage in the workforce. Just this morning, as the Prime Minister, Minister Porter and I, with Senator Seselja, visited a local childcare service, chatting to the parents there they demonstrated to us and said to us that these are the types of changes that will make it easier to decide to return to work. They will make it simpler to determine the number of hours in which they work. Those changes will occur because, of course, for the vast majority of parents we will be removing the child care rebate cap and they will no longer fall off that cliff part-way through the year, but instead will be able to have continuous year-round support to access quality early-learning and childcare services.

Equally, our new hourly rate caps will put downward pressure on future price increases, providing more certainty and stability for taxpayers and parents in the future. Importantly, we are improving and increasing the level of subsidy for the lowest-income Australians. In the future, low-income Australian families will see the level of subsidy grow from around 72 per cent to around 85 per cent. This package of reforms is coupled with a $1 billion safety net to make sure that children in the most vulnerable circumstances are still guaranteed access to at least two sessions of care and early learning a week, to make sure they get those developmental opportunities. (Time expired)

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister explain to the Senate the benefits of the Turnbull government's reforms to the childcare system?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me give a couple of examples. Indeed, these reforms are of course fully funded and fully paid for through other savings measures the government is implementing. So I will consider these in totality. Let's take a single parent earning around $50,000 per annum and with two children under six in long day care three days a week. The net impact of family tax benefit changes and childcare changes for that parent will be a benefit of $2,470 a year. This is a real benefit for those parents. Equally, a family of two parents on $80,000 a year and with two children under six in long day care for three days a week will benefit in net terms by almost $3,000. That is because there is far better targeting in our reforms. These are progressive reforms that better-target taxpayer support to the families who most need it, to the most hardworking, lowest-earning Australians. They are the type of reforms the Labor Party would once have embraced and been proud of themselves. (Time expired)

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate of any alternative policies?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The only alternative policies we can assess our those the opposition took to the last election. That was a simple suggestion that they would increase the existing child care rebate cap. In doing so they were going to provide windfall gains of $176 million to families earning more than $250,000. That is hardly a progressive approach. That is hardly effective targeting of taxpayer dollars. Our approach, our policy, is about ensuring that the most hard-working, lowest-earning Australians get the greatest support. Our reforms will ensure those families can access quality early-learning services for around $15 a day. But they make sure that we target the dollars where they best need to be targeted.

I sincerely hope the Labor Party will reconsider their position in relation to these reforms, because we can make sure we get the best bang for taxpayers' dollars by targeting them effectively, as indeed major stakeholders like Goodstart Australia have said in relation to our reforms. Let's get it done, because these will benefit our most vulnerable Australians. (Time expired)