Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

To make a remark in this place about the capacity for parents to make decisions about their own children’s care I think is pretty dangerous. I still contend that families should be the people who make those choices and decisions. With regard to the question, and particularly with regard to both costs and availability, we quoted costs, but the cost is not factored against the subsidy that this government has provided—something that those opposite did not provide. There was no childcare benefit and there was no childcare tax rebate in 1996. And you talk about availability. You can quote the numbers from our hotline, which is actually credible information. There are currently between 100,000 and 120,000 childcare places available in Australia.