PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Ms BELL (Moncrieff) (12:53): It seems this government believes parliament exists to applaud its own performance, to pat itself on the back. Labor have turned the Notice Paper into a running commentary of self-congratulation. as we see time and time again. I remind them that, before they do, they might benefit from taking a closer look at the challenges parents and families face when it comes to child care in this country.
Australians will judge the government by its performance, not by its motions and its headlines. They judge it by their household budgets. We know that the myth of cheaper child care, that the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Early Childhood Education promised, is not true.
It is another mistruth from this Labor government. Families judge it every time they pay their power bill, fill up their car, buy their groceries and receive the child care that they have to pay with gap fees. No-one on this side of the House disputes that early childhood educators perform one of the most important jobs in our country—taking care of and educating our littlest learners.
We thank them for all their love and support. They help shape the next generation and support children's development during their most formative years. They give parents the confidence to participate in the workforce knowing that their children are being cared for in a safe, nurturing and educational environment.
They deserve to be recognised, they deserve to be respected, and they deserve to be, of course, fairly paid. But recognising their value should never come at the expense of the families they serve. That is the balance this government continues to miss.
The Prime Minister promised Australians that cheaper child care would be one of his defining reforms. Instead, families are paying more—another untruth. The last data shows that childcare costs have surged by 14 per cent under Labor.
That's 14 per cent extra that families have to find. Costs have increased faster than inflation over the past year, placing even greater pressure on household budgets that are already stretched to breaking point. That matters because families do not experience child care in isolation.
They experience it along with higher electricity bills, higher insurance premiums, higher rents, higher groceries and higher mortgage repayments. Everything under this government has gone up because of higher inflation because this government can't help itself but to spend. It's the highest spending, highest taxing government in Australia's history.
For many families, child care is now one of the biggest expenses they face. While the government celebrates spending billions more, parents are asking a much simpler question: why am I and my family paying more? This motion speaks proudly about a 15 per cent wage increase for educators.
Again, educators deserve fair wages, there's no doubt about that, but our beef is that governments cannot simply announce wage increases without ensuring there is a long-term certainty for providers and affordability for families. Providers need confidence to plan for their futures. Families need confidence that fees will remain affordable, and the sector needs sustainable policy not headline announcement.
The government points to conditions placed on providers that limit fee increases while this funding is available, but families and providers alike are asking the obvious question of 'what happens after that?' Temporary funding arrangements do not solve long-term structural problems, and, without ongoing certainty, providers face difficult decisions, and history tells us those costs eventually find their way back to families.
While the government congratulates itself through motions like this, patting itself on the back, Australian families are still asking why life is getting harder not easier. Why are childcare costs continuing to rise under this government? Why is the cost-of-living pressure continuing to mount?
Why does every announcement from this government seem to come with another bill for families to pay? I'll finish with this. Australians are rightly asking what the government is doing about access in those remote and regional communities.
What is the government doing to actually deliver cheaper child care? How many of those promised new centres have they built? What have they done in the great electorates of Grey, of Barker and of Casey that have childcare deserts?
This government is simply not delivering on choice for families. We want cheaper child care, and we want choice for families around our country. Listen now and do it.