Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

This government has gone through a comprehensive process to develop the biggest reforms to childcare to support workforce participation in families the nation has ever seen. Those opposite seem just to carp from the sidelines, because I hear and see absolutely no alternative from them when it comes to child care. They have said they support additional investment, but they seem to want it to come out of money that is already allocated. That is typical of the Labor Party; they do not understand you can only spend the money once. But, indeed, everything has to be paid for and everything has to be budgeted for. This is a carefully crafted reform package. Those opposite, when in government, put in place childcare reforms that drove up the cost to families and drove up the cost to the taxpayer. Our reforms are constructed in a careful way to best support families while trying to keep a lid on the inflationary cost of child care, so those families can maximise their income and their workforce participation. (Time expired)