Page 2151 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Kaine: They are running out of time, Minister.
MR BERRY: Well, child-care and poverty, Mr Kaine, will never be ruled out if the Liberal Government gets its way with its proposed tax policy.
Mr Kaine: It will fix it inside a year.
MR BERRY: It will fix it all right - it will entrench it. Such is the commitment of the Liberal Party to social security.
Mr Kaine: We are committed to consultation and open government, like you.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR BERRY: Later on, Mr Kaine, I will get to a little bit of consultation and I will be able to expose the lack of commitment on your part.
To date the Commonwealth Government has moved towards achieving this goal through income support measures, namely, the family allowance supplement, which has steadily been increased since its introduction in December 1987, and the Child Support Agency, which ensures that parents coping alone with the responsibility of bringing up children actually receive child maintenance payments from their former spouse. The provision of affordable, accessible, quality child-care is an important issue for this Government.
This Government is pleased to be a partner in the Commonwealth Government's children's services program. This program aims to target child-care provision for working parents. It is important that all working parents have access to affordable care, and the Commonwealth program assists in this by providing fee relief for those who cannot afford full fees. One wonders what the Liberals will do with this if they ever find themselves in the position, which I doubt, to implement their tax policies.
However, Mr Speaker, it is not only these working parents who need access to a range of children's day care services, and my department's children's services program aims to complement the Commonwealth program by providing places for those who require care for reasons other than work force participation. Reasons for this could be study, medical appointments, a range of welfare matters and for respite.
Quality child-care is important for children and parents alike. Children need to have access to the kinds of quality care, service arrangements and environments which will foster their full development. All parents should have access to the kinds of supportive arrangements they require to meet their range of child-care needs. Women in particular should have access to quality care to ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of society and to live full and creative lives.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .