Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Ms BELL (Moncrieff) (17:39): I begin by thanking the incredible educators, carers, centre directors and all of the support staff working in early childhood education and care across Australia because the work that you do is invaluable. Every day, you help educate and nurture our youngest, littlest learners, preparing them for school, for learning and, of course, for life.

You also provide the support that enables parents to participate in the workforce and support their families. Thank you for the enormous contribution that you make to our communities. This budget was Labor's chance to show Australian families they understood the pressure that they are under—and, bah bow, they failed.

The Prime Minister repeatedly told Australians that universal child care would be his 'defining reform'. Remember, 'My word is my bond.' He said it during the election campaign, he said it in the leader's debates, and he staked his place in history on it. But, if this budget is the result, Australian families, I think, deserve a full refund.

Parents have now been warned of substantial increases in out-of-pocket childcare costs due to expired fee caps, unfunded educator wage increases—I'll get back to that—and Labor's broader cost-of-living crisis. Early childhood educators deserve to be fairly paid, but, after Labor failed to provide ongoing funding certainty following previous wage increases, providers are now facing permanent cost pressures.

At the same time, federal fee caps that limited how much centres could increase fees by are, well, expiring. It was a booby trap that Labor set for us, but they're in government again now, and they have to deal with it, allowing providers to raise their base rates. Now, families are being left to pick up the bill.

This is gross mismanagement in the early childhood education and care sector by the Labor government. Since Labor was elected, Australians have suffered the biggest fall in living standards of any comparable developed nation according to the OECD data. The data does not lie.

This country has gone backwards by at least 10 per cent. It is not childcare costs hurting families, it is everything: gas is up by 41 per cent; electricity, 37 per cent; insurance, 42 per cent; rents, 23 per cent; food, 17 per cent; and health, 17 per cent. Families are under pressure.

This government just doesn't get it; they just keep spending. Childcare costs are up 14 per cent since Labor came to power. Child care is not cheaper, Mr Albanese.

The latest ABS data shows that childcare costs rose 9.1 per cent in the past year alone, almost double the rate of inflation. Don't listen when you hear that child care is cheaper, because you know, as a parent, that it's not. The Prime Minister promised cheaper child care, instead, families are paying more than ever.

This is the cost of Labor. If you vote for them once—maybe you voted for them twice—you're going to pay for it for 10 or 20 years. That's what happens, and you're feeling it in grocery runs, in power bills and in every time a family drops their child at care and wonders how they're going to make it work.

Why do almost 40 per cent of childcare services now charge above the hourly rate cap, Minister for Education? When do the families pay the full difference out of pocket? Labor's failure costs families dearly.

The average full-time childcare place costs around $36,000 a year before the subsidy. It's comparable to elite private school fees. Meanwhile, the childcare subsidy is projected to reach more than $21 billion by 2029-30, which is up from $15.76 billion just last year.

Billions are flowing into a system still failing on affordability, still failing on flexibility, and, in too many parts of regional Australia, failing on accessibility. Costs are up, the subsidy bill is up— Government members interjecting— Ms BELL: I'll take that interjection—that little giggle—from over there because this is not funny for regional families. It is a system in serious trouble, and Labor has failed on the worker retention payment because that allowed that to fall off a cliff.

Special accounts payments sit at $1.08 billion in 2026-27. They're nothing across the forward estimates. I see members are turning their backs and looking the other way because they're so embarrassed that they've messed it up for Australian families.

It is Australian families who will pay the price for Labor's gross mismanagement of the early childhood education and care sector. Either way, families pay. This debate is about a fundamental difference in values.

Labor believes that the government knows best, that big, unionised labour workforces are the answer to Australia's woes and that out-of-control spending is the answer to Labor staying in government. Well, they're wrong, and we reject that entirely.