Further childcare subsidies will likely require an explicit new tax rise to fund it. Billions of dollars of more debt can’t be added to the national credit card.
Many people will agree that expanding access to quality and affordable early childhood education and care would be good for families and the nation.
The challenge is to do so without pushing up the cost for everyone and wasting finite taxpayer money for very limited gains for parents and children.
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John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury. Connect with John on Twitter. Email John at jkehoe@afr.com
