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

My question is to the Minister for Human Services. I refer to the minister’s statement this morning:

We will not be allowing providers to kick out a child to make available a place for Centrelink ... I reject the claim that we will be squeezing out other families.

Isn’t it a fact that clause 7.3.12 of the request for tender document says:

The contractor must invoke the one month notice to vacate requirement if the place is required by a Centrelink family.

Was the tender document withdrawn from the minister’s website to cover up the fact that the minister is wrong and has misled Australian parents?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am glad the member for Sydney asked me that question instead of asking the Acting Prime Minister. The Acting Prime Minister would be too humble to spruik the fact that in the budget the government abolished the cap on child-care places. Because the government abolished the cap on child-care places, we were able to remove that provision from the new tender—because now there are an unlimited number of child-care places.