With just weeks to go until thousands of families go to the polls at by-elections across the country, Labor’s Amanda Rishworth has today confirmed her party has no solutions and no policy to fix Australia’s broken child care system.
The only thing Ms Rishworth did confirm is that Labor opposes the Turnbull Government’s sweeping reforms.
That means opposing an additional $2.5 billion to deliver more support for more families.
That means opposing a means-test for subsidies rather than simply handing out 50 per cent subsidy rates to every family no matter their income like under Labor’s previous policy.
That means opposing our light-touch activity test that starts at just four-hours a week, to ensure taxpayer subsidies are directed to people working, looking for work, studying, volunteering, and includes exemptions for people in special circumstances such as when they face serious illness.
That means opposing an hourly rate cap to help put downward pressure on fee increases.
It also means opposing a system that’s set to benefit nearly one million families across the country including more than 4700 families in Mayo, 7100 in Longman and 3100 in Braddon.
Despite a Productivity Commission report, two Senate inquiries, months of Parliamentary debate and the Labor Party’s talkfest ‘listening tour’, they still haven’t come up with any solutions to Australia’s broken child care system.
At the election they had a policy to deliver an annual $176 million windfall to families earning over $250,000 at the expense of low to middle income earners then just a month ago they said they’d adopt the Turnbull Government’s policy and now they’ve changed positions again and have gone back to square one.
“I intend to allow the new system to have time to bed down before I look at a proper review”
– Amanda Rishworth, Speech – McKell Institute, 17/5/2018
While Labor spends its time flip-flopping on child care, the Turnbull Government has been focused on ensuring families understand they need to visit www.education.gov.au/childcare to make the switch to the new system.
Around 950,000 families and 99 per cent of child care services have switched to the new system, and while the switchover on 2 July might have seemed a long way off for many families, now it’s just around the corner and it’s time to make the switch.