Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wanted to talk quickly about the childcare bill we have in the parliament—the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill. I am pleased to see the parliament beginning to make headway on addressing what is a most ridiculous situation—one that can mean it is cheaper for parents to stay home than it is for them to go out to work. We are failing in our duty as guardians of the public purse, if we continue to allow this absurd situation to continue. Without change, we are prioritising handouts over hard work for parents who are not only willing and capable but keen to earn a wage.

Last night I listened with my head in my hands as a constituent told me of her own despair. Families, she explained, are deserting the childcare centre her children attend, because they can no longer afford to stay. She told me five parents have pulled out in the last few weeks since they have hit their cap. The parents work hard, but it is more cost-effective for them to quit their jobs, pull their kids out of care, stay home instead and take welfare instead of a wage. She went on to say she knew other parents who are home to look after their kids but put them in care for three or four days a week, and she was furious that this came for free when other parents—working parents—hit their cap and are shelling out $2,100 a month and $1,200 a week during school holidays, which are coming up in April this year in Queensland.

The more she spoke, the more I was left wondering: who does this system serve? When you are better off on welfare than in the workforce, who benefits? The parents who want to work but just cannot afford it? The childcare centre that is losing families and trying to keep its doors open, like the one in Clontarf in my electorate? The children? I know it does not serve those children to learn that welfare is an option, a choice for the capable, as opposed to a safety net for those in dire straits. So who does this serve? This constituent is a mighty hard worker; I know her quite well. She is a mum to three children—two are at school, one in child care and the other two do a couple hours one day a week at child care before school. She and her husband are decent people. They are unable to take leave to be home with their kids over school holidays because competition is fierce, so they will put their three children in care and pay $1,200 a week in April for the privilege. They have reached their $7,500 childcare cap and she is worried about how they will limp through to July. I would like to think that this family is an anomaly, but they are not. I hear similar stories time and time again. What good are we, all of us here, if we incentivise workers to do nothing?

Make child care affordable, assist parents to work, incentivise those who want to contribute and are able—these are fundamental functions of an effective parliament. In order for the system to be sustainable, we need to be supporting working parents and those with a genuine need for support to be able to deliver to keep their children in care. (Time expired)