ABC AM Programme
E&OE
CHRIS UHLMANN:
You have the Productivity Commission report now. It recommends a new, streamlined system of a single payment for parents who want to have their children in childcare, what are the advantages in what they’re proposing?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, first of all it has been very important for the Productivity Commission to do this work and I think they’ve come to some important conclusions about how we can help families stay in work once they’ve had children and get back to work after they’ve had children.
That really is what the taxpayer is spending $7 billion to do each year as part of this program – to help those families stay in work and get back into work.
They’ve proposed a more streamlined system, one that goes to just one payment directly to the providers, but also has a benchmark price so taxpayers under their proposal, wouldn’t be subsidising out of core expenses for yoga classes or whatever else happens at the extreme of some of the service providers offering.
So it is a way of addressing the economic part of this policy. The previous government focused a lot on the quality controls and regulation, and there was some merit in some of that but it also increased the price significantly for families and for taxpayers, together with their industrial agenda.
So this report really puts the focus back on what do we need to achieve for families to help them get back in work and stay in work.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
And this report does address the costs that were added by quality assurance. Now do you want to see a lessening of that in order to lower the price?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, the Commission recommends that what I call the non-core elements of childcare, those providing smaller hours and things like that, that there be more flexibility. But that really is now a matter for the States. The previous government locked all that regulation up at the state level.
But in other areas, say for nannies and things like that, they are recommending extending the services and support into those areas and I think what that reflects is the Commission saying that families, and modern families in particular, are dealing with a different set of needs and there needs to be a broader array and variety of product offering, service offering to families and the system from a government point of view and the support we provide needs to reflect that, and that’s what they’re recommending.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
And is the Government keen on having nannies as part of the system?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, I certainly think we have to look at that and how that can be supported. The Commission’s recommendations are based on a relatively budget-neutral position, but to go well beyond what is there would obviously require offsets and savings to achieve that.
That’s why I reach out to the Opposition and say we should be working together on this package, happy to do that, but it’s not just about what goes into it, it’s about how you pay for it as well.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
And what you get out of it as well. It says that there will be a small improvement in participation in the workforce of some 16,500 women. Now, that doesn’t seem like a lot.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, what they’re recommending and what they have acknowledged is that for some families, for many families, the choice to go back to work after having had a child is not really a choice, it’s a necessity, and we need to make that choice easier for families to make.
That’s why there is arguing that the weight of the system and support needs to be to middle – to lower income families. And that’s what they’ve recommended in their proposal and if we want to extend it beyond that then obviously there’s more work to do in providing the savings and we have many savings measures in the Senate that could support that.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Now some households, those on over $160,000, would be worse off under these recommendations.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, as the level of subsidy declines over the income levels then that’s what the Commission has recommended. But I should stress this is a report to government not a report from government and we’re still working through our proposals, working together with families and the service providers and the sector more broadly.
It’s important to have the quality framework in place but now we have to address the cost and the economics. I mean, the cost of childcare went up over 50 per cent under the previous government and those costs continue to rise and that’s why we need to get that under control.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
As you say, $7 billion at the moment. Would this be more expensive?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, what the Commission has put forward is around about that measure, but if we were seeking to do more – and there is opportunities to do more – then that clearly would have to be offset. I mean we can’t just rain money from the sky to deal with this.
I think the sorts of recommendations the Commission have made have made some real progress on how you can keep the lid or the pressures down on prices going up, but equally to try and maintain the level of support that’s already out there. That would come at a greater cost.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
If one of the things you want to do is to get more women into the workforce, don’t you have to look at the tax and transfer system because as some people go back to work, they lose as much in benefits as they make in their wage?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, the report already acknowledges that the sort of recommendations that are in this set of proposals would alter that equation for many families, but it is true that you need to look at the broader array of family payments.
Now the first instalment of what the Government is looking at for our family’s package is to deal with the issues here in childcare and look at it very much from an economic perspective about how we can help families stay in work when they’ve had kids and get work after they’ve had kids quickly.
But beyond that, the second phase really needs to look at the very complicated architecture of family payments that are out there and it’s about ensuring that families are able to make choices and deal with the cost pressures that they’re facing, the choices that they want to continue to have, and at the end of the day that really is about ensuring we have as many families in work as possible.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Finally, as you say, this is a Productivity Commission report. When will we see a government response?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well, the Government continues to work through these issues. This is a very important input to that process. That’s why we wanted it to be done. It addresses the economics of what needs to be achieved from the policy and we’ll continue to do that over the weeks ahead and certainly come to a position on that before the budget.