Bob Day (SA, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance. The 2015-16 budget shows an eight per cent increase in childcare spending, or a 40 per cent increase over four years, or, in dollar terms, from $6.5 billion to over $11 billion. The reason families need child care is that both parents are forced to go out to work because of high housing costs. Then there is the $3 billion a year the Commonwealth spends on housing assistance. We all know the cost of building a basic house has not risen, in real terms, in 20 years. But the cost of land has skyrocketed. In essence, the government is spending over $14 billion a year to offset rising land costs. This is treating the symptoms, not the illness. Does the government accept this?