Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

For the purpose of those people who are in the gallery and those who might be listening to this debate being broadcast, I would like to draw their attention to the fact that the terms of the matter of public importance put by the Leader of the Opposition are about the government’s record on Australian families. Neither the Leader of the Opposition nor the Leader of the National Party could even bring themselves to utter the word ‘family’ throughout the entirety of their contributions. They could not even talk about Australian families. That is just how out of touch they are.

Only a few short years ago in this chamber, the then Prime Minister John Howard sought to berate Australian families concerned about cost-of-living pressures. He made the now infamous comment: ‘Australian families have never been better off.’ I was here in the chamber when he said that, and I remember it well. He said it in the context of having introduced the most antifamily industrial relations system we have every seen, where penalty rates, capacity to refuse changed working hours and basic rights to protection from unfair dismissal were stripped away. He said it in the context of Tony Abbott having stripped a billion dollars out of the health system, which saw access to general practitioners become even harder, hospital and dental waiting lists blow out and private health insurance, which everyone was encouraged to take out, become more expensive. He said it in the context of having done nothing to try and address the issue of housing affordability. He said it in the context of having done nothing to try and make child care more affordable. In fact, the then government’s policies exacerbated the problem by allowing the childcare market to be concentrated into the hands of on operator, the now failed ABC. He said it in the context of having denied families the opportunity of a paid parental leave scheme. The now Leader of the Opposition, who was one of the prime blockers in the 12 years the coalition were in government, said, ‘Paid parental leave over his dead body.’

Now we have the Leader of the Opposition—who has been part of a government that saw Australian families go backwards and that sought to lecture Australian families on how they should be truly grateful for all they received from the benevolent Howard government—claiming in this place that he is some sort of friend of Australian families. I am proud of this government’s record when it comes to families. During the 2007 election we made a commitment to Australian families to deliver a fairer workplace relations system and a paid parental leave scheme. We promised to increase the childcare rebate to 50 per cent and also to increase access to kindergartens for every four-year-old. We promised to deliver tax cuts to families and to introduce an education tax rebate. We promised to improve maternal and child health services and to provide opportunities for lower income and first home buyers to enter the housing market. Finally, throughout the term of this government and particularly in the context of the global financial crisis that we never anticipated when were in election mode in 2007, we have worked to protect the jobs of ordinary working families during the global financial crisis. We have delivered on every single one of these promises.

Just one year after the election of the Rudd government, we honoured our election commitment to get rid of Work Choices. During the 2004 election, members opposite failed to mention to Australian families that they were introducing extreme Work Choices laws. Australian families told us these laws were not fair. They did not support families in their employment. They were archaic and they were wrong. With the Fair Work Bill we delivered on our commitment to rectify the attack that those opposite made on the jobs of Australian families. We now of course know that, at the very first opportunity, Tony Abbott will reintroduce his antifamily Work Choices legislation.

In addition to the abolition of Work Choices, we committed to go even further in supporting families in the workplace and at home, with the implementation of a paid parental leave scheme. I spoke in this House last month about how delighted I was to be part of a government that was delivering on its commitment to implement this scheme. The Paid Parental Leave scheme provides families with real choices about how they balance their work and family responsibilities. It takes pressure off particularly women to return to work too early after the birth of their child. And while the former government had more than a decade to introduce such a scheme to support families, they decided to sit on their hands and do nothing. The Rudd government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme passed through the parliament last Thursday and represents a real win for families. I am not convinced that the Leader of the Opposition’s road to Damascus conversion on Paid Parental Leave is a real one. It is clear the scheme does not have the support of all members of the Liberal Party and nor does it have the support of the National Party. It has been roundly criticised by business. in my view, it is a policy on the never-never.

We have supported families by increasing the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. Access to child care for children can be costly for parents and the government, through its measures, is trying to relieve these costs. We have recognised that parents want to provide the best possible start for their kids. That is why we have acted to provide 15 hours of early kindergarten education to all four-year-olds over the next five years.

In the budget we have implemented our promise of the third round of tax cuts for families. These tax cuts come into effect next Thursday and will be welcome news for many families around the country. This is the third round of tax cuts in the three years of this government. We have introduced the education tax rebate. Eligible families now have access to that refund, which provides up to $750 per primary school child and $1,500 per high school child to help with the costs of their education.

It was pleasing to hear yesterday Minister Roxon speak further on the government’s commitment to improve maternal and child health services. The government announced yesterday a new pregnancy, birth and baby helpline. The helpline will provide support to prospective parents, those who are pregnant and those who are new parents. There will be advice and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to support families through this important time in their lives. This measure will make a real difference to new families. On top of this, the government is providing 24-hour support for breastfeeding services—something that was forgotten under the former government. In addition, we have introduced a perinatal depression support service to assist women during their pregnancy and during a child’s early life. And of course our expansion of Medicare rebates to midwifery services is making a real difference to parents today.

Housing affordability is another significant achievement of the government and is a significant concern for Australian families. Measures like our Housing Affordability Fund and the National Rental Affordability Scheme are assisting real families today by providing opportunities for lower income earners and first home buyers to enter the housing market. This is on top of our $5.6 billion Social Housing Initiative as part of our nation-building plan that is assisting families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The Rudd government has delivered a fair workplace relations system and the Paid Parental Leave scheme in the midst of the global financial crisis. We have worked hard to combat the impact of this financial crisis. The government has acted decisively to protect jobs through its economic stimulus plan. While other advanced economies have experienced a recession, massive job losses and long-term budget deficits, Australia has avoided a recession, has created 225,000 jobs and will return the budget to surplus early. The measures that we have put in place have kept Australia’s unemployment at around half the rate of the United States and of Europe, but if we had listened to those opposite we would have seen around a quarter of a million people out of work.

I hear the members opposite actually laughing at the comments I am making. I find it absolutely extraordinary that those members opposite think that having half the rate of unemployment of the US and of Europe is something to be laughed about. I find it extraordinary that they fail to recognise that Australia has managed to do better than almost every other developed country in the world. We have managed to do better not by accident, not by mistake. We have managed to protect the jobs of ordinary working families because we acted decisively to address the global financial crisis. I find it extraordinary that those members opposite somehow think that having a lower unemployment rate is something to be laughed about.

These have been real decisions that have a real consequence for working families. The Rudd government understands the challenges faced by Australian families. One of the things I am very proud about that this government acted to do was to increase the base rate of the pension. It was an appalling circumstance that every year at budget time pensioners and carers had to wait to see whether they were going to be subject to government largess. Now they do not have to wait for that. The base rate of the pension is there now, in perpetuity, in every single budget going forward. People do not have to wait to see whether a benevolent government will be able to help them each budget time.

The Rudd Labor government understands the challenges faced by Australian families. Unlike the former Prime Minister, John Howard, we will not be heard using such hubristic terms as ‘Australian families have never been better off’. We know that there is a long way to go in helping Australian families, but we are very proud of the record that we have to date. We have delivered on a fairer workplace relations system, we have delivered on a national paid parental leave scheme and we have worked to protect jobs during the global financial crisis. We have delivered tax cuts and also assistance with child care and with education. The government has a proud record when it comes to families. We do know that there is more to be done, but I will back our record any time. (Time expired)

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