Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Polley for the question. This is a government that understands that a good education begins at home. That is why we are backing schoolkids bonus, with an increase in payments for 1.5 million families. All families who are eligible for family tax benefit A will benefit from this measure. That is of course additional support of up to $600 a year. That is on top of the Household Assistance Package and a new supplementary allowance, which will also be available to boost family budgets.

Labor are not just about supporting parents; we are also about supporting teachers, carers and of course schools. Over the next four years this government will be investing a record $22.3 billion in early childhood education, more than tripling the investment made in the last four years of the Howard government. We have also doubled the amount of funding for school education, with an investment of $65 billion over the current funding period. This is real investment— (Time expired)