Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer and Acting Prime Minister. I hope he doesn’t dog this one!

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member will get to her question.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refer to the government tender for tax-free, price controlled, guaranteed child care to be provided for staff who work at Centrelink and certain other agencies. Can the Treasurer confirm to the House that these parents will have the opportunity to pay for their child care out of pre-tax income, an opportunity not given to millions of others? Will they also receive the child-care benefit and the 30 per cent rebate?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, they will not. In relation to salary packages, where people are able to access pre-tax dollars for child care, as exists at the moment, the flipside is you cannot access the child-care benefit or the child-care tax rebate. The same rules that apply to any other employees at the moment will apply to those who may be eligible to take up an offer out of the human services agency.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is only high-income earners who will benefit.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the honourable member would like to listen, we are answering the question. You cannot go out there and pretend you are interested in all of these child-care issues and then just interject from the front bench when you get the answers. It would be advisable to actually listen.

The tender that has been released from Centrelink today to establish an employer provided child-care program is looking for an additional 40,000 places. One of the conditions of this is that it will not be taking away places from other Australians. If Centrelink does commission another 40,000 places, far from that hindering other Australians, it will be adding to the market and actually providing more child-care places—which one might have thought the Labor Party would actually be interested in. The arrangements that will be put in place are the same arrangements that apply to all other people—that is, you cannot get the benefit and the rebate if you take advantage of this. This is currently applying to other employees as well. Centrelink’s contract will not require the contractor to freeze fees for five years. Fees must be based on a user-pays system at competitive local market rates.

The government is spending $9.5 billion to support child care, and there are now nearly 600,000 funded places available. That compares with about half of that number back in 1996. Here we have a government with record places, record funding and uncapped places so that the market can rise to meet demand. We have the child-care benefit, with an additional child-care rebate coming into force, and those who do not want to take up that option may have the option of employer provided facilities. This is the biggest investment in child care that has ever been made by any Australian government. The tender that is being placed by the department of the Minister for Human Services complies with Commonwealth government salary packaging laws, complies with tax laws and complies with child-care requirements.