Opinion: PM Malcolm Turnbull no wiseguy taking on mummy mafia

OPINION: Malcolm Turnbull has made a grand mistake — he has taken on the mummy mafia.

MALCOLM Turnbull has made a grand mistake — he has taken on the mummy mafia.

Fulltime working mums, part-time working mums and stay at home mums are mad, and they are using social media (mum-to-mum Facebook), grassroots campaigning (whingeing at school pick ups) and door knocking (play date drop offs) to take aim.

The Government has stiffed them on childcare. Since 2008, the child care rebate has remained frozen at $7500 a year a child, yet fees have skyrocketed.

The Coalition promised child care reform last year but in this year’s Budget put it on ice until July 2018.

CHILDCARE COSTING AS MUCH AS A YEARLY TUITION TO ELITE SCHOOLS

So women, who want to return to work, build their nest eggs, get their careers back on track after their work life was put on pause while they had children — who will be paying the pensions of the future — have been shafted. And they are telling anyone who will listen.

Take this mum. She has a Masters in Business and works for a Federal Government Department. I suspect she votes Liberal.

She is ambitious and works hard.

About one year ago, she had two kids under four.

She was desperate to return to work once her bub turned nine months old but couldn’t afford it.

Having two kids in day care meant that once her rebate ran out (generally about this time of the year), she faced shelling out $200 a day — $1000 a week. She may have been in front just $100 a week, but why would she bother? The stress of getting two kids to daycare plus the incidentals of car parking etc made it too much of a hassle.

The Coalition promised child care reform last year but in this year’s Budget put it on ice until July 2018. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

So she stayed home. The Department had to wait longer for a valued employee to return but more importantly, the Government missed out on tax receipts.

To quote her, and many like her, they have the “rip-roaring irrits”. Why is child care viewed as welfare? Tax cuts to the corporate tax rate aren’t regarded as business welfare but they arguably aim to achieve the same things.

For Australia to be more productive in the future, it needs more women in the workforce. That’s why G20 countries in 2014 agreed to aggressive targets over the next 10 years.

Think of it this way. More women in work, more money for the Government, fewer welfare payments and more money in super. For those women who are underemployed, picking up four hours a couple of days a week is not an option because of the way the system works. They can’t just pay for the child care hours they need. If they worked eight hours over two days they would have to pay about 16 hours for child care.

And then there’s this question. If the Government is so serious about increasing female participation, why was it not a double dissolution trigger? More people are directly affected everyday by unaffordable child care than corrupt thugs on building sites.

Scott Morrison is wrong that Australia’s over the “winners and losers’’ debate when it comes to Budgets. If the mummy mafia feels they are a loser, Malcolm is in a muddle.

Originally published as Opinion: PM Malcolm Turnbull no wiseguy taking on mummy mafia