Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services) Share this | Hansard source

If those on the opposition benches, including the member for Macarthur, want to support the vulnerable in our community, if they want to support the hard workers, then they will support the coalition policies, because the coalition policies are spending more money on childcare reform, more money on workers and more money on families in our country. Unlike Labor's shambolic childcare policy, which on their watch saw fees absolutely skyrocket, the coalition government is putting $2.5 billion back into the sector. The opposition didn't do that. We are delivering a fundamentally fair package that provides the highest rate of subsidy to those on the lowest income levels, with more hours of subsidy for those who work the most. That is what is called fundamentally fair. The coalition is increasing the base subsidy from around 72 per cent to 85 per cent for more than 370,000 families earning around $66,000 or less a year. Low- and middle-income families earning up to around $186,000 will no longer be limited by an annual cap on the amount of child care they can access. That's more than 85 per cent of families using child care. Families earning more than $186,000 would also benefit from an increased annual rebate cap of $10,190. Introducing hourly rate caps recommended by the Productivity Commission will help put downward pressure on fee increases—

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

well, support our policies if you want to fix it—by setting a limit on what hourly fee the government will subsidise based on an efficient price of what it costs to deliver child care. The $1.2 billion childcare safety net—

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