Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Greenway for her obvious passion for the families in her electorate. She is only too well aware that, since 1996, the federal government—the Howard government—has more than doubled the number of child-care places and more than doubled expenditure on child care in this country, providing more opportunities for families. Last night the Treasurer announced a further major investment in child care by the Howard government. For the very first time, not only will long day care be uncapped but family day care will be totally uncapped and outside of school hours care will be uncapped.

This means that, if a constituent in the electorate of Greenway, in the suburb of Glenwood, for argument’s sake, were to come to the member for Greenway and say, ‘I need an after school care place in that suburb,’ she does not have to say, ‘I have to wait for some bureaucratic round.’ She can say, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go and produce it,’ because the federal government will fund those places as long as they meet the basic criteria of safety. We will have uncapped family day care. We will have uncapped outside of school hours care and we will have uncapped long day care.

With this government’s assistance, we will see more people entering the workforce and more women entering the workforce for the first time. We are extending the support through JET so that, when these people are making that crucial decision to go from welfare into work, not only will they get the child-care rebate and the child-care benefit but they will also be able to have most, if not all, of that gap paid in some instances so that they do not have to see child-care costs as a barrier at all. That is the commitment that the Howard government has to people re-entering the workforce and to giving them choice in child care.

We are spending nearly $10 billion over the next four years on child care, and we believe compliance is essential. So we will be ensuring that not only every child-care place is a quality, safe environment but every taxpayer’s dollar is spent on delivering a child-care place. We will be doing that through a maintenance program using new IT, rolling it out across the country, supporting it with compliance and uncapping the places. This is fundamental reform which will give parents choice in where they place their child and which will ensure that they can have the quality of child care that they deserve.

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