Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Over the six years that members opposite presided over the childcare system that so many Australian families rely upon, the cost of child care in this nation went up 53 per cent. The bill that is before the Senate means that 230,000 Australians who presently say that they cannot get work or cannot work more hours because child care costs too much will benefit immeasurably. Failing to support the reforms means that one million Australian families would lose a very significant benefit from the incredibly significant reforms to the childcare sector. Failing to support the reforms would mean that we fail to focus our resources on the hardest-working families on the lowest incomes in Australia. That is where child care is critical. If a working family earns less than $65,000, they would pay no more than $15 a day. Where there is an agreement, we could find that failing to support these reforms means that we are failing to support a mother with two kids in child care who would, under these reforms, be $2½ thousand a year better off.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

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