Federal Budget response: Opposition leader Anthony Albanese pledges big savings on childcare

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has delivered his big budget reply pitch with childcare a big winner, leaving parents with costs as little as $10 a day.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has pledged to cover the cost of up to 90 per cent of childcare for low income families in his budget reply speech.

It means Mr Albanese’s big budget pitch on childcare could leave some parents with out-of-pocket costs as little as $10 a day.

For a family spending $110 a day on childcare the out-of-pocket cost could be slashed to just $10.

But cost of living relief will also be offered to the vast majority of families using childcare with Labor pledging the changes will leave 97 per cent of families better off.

Even the rich will get a more generous deal, with Labor lifting the income threshold where childcare subsidies are scrapped to a combined family income of $500,000.

“Working mothers should be able to afford child care for their kids. It’s as simple as that,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“Women are the key to kickstarting our economy again. In the worst recession in a hundred years, we have to make sure women aren’t forced to choose between their family and their jobs.”

“We can’t just let fees and out-of-pocket costs keep skyrocketing. Only Labor has a plan to put more money in the family budget and help women get back to work, quickly.”

Tonight I'll lay out Labor's alternate plan for Australia.

No one held back. No one left behind. pic.twitter.com/CH5WyXkGs4

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 7, 2020

But by pitching childcare as an issue for “working mothers”, rather than parents, Mr Albanese was reverting to the same script that prompted a fiery confrontation between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the ABC’s Leigh Sales this week, after she challenged the idea that childcare was an issue for working mothers rather than fathers too.

In parliament, Labor leader Anthony Albanese hammered the Prime Minister over the failure to tackle child care in the budget and mocking him for suggesting the budget was good for women if they also liked driving on roads.

“Women have suffered most during the pandemic, but are reduced to a footnote. The best the Government can offer is they can drive on a road. And if you are over 35 you have certainly been left behind,’’ he said.

Currently, the childcare subsidy offered by the Morrison Government is worth up to 85 per cent for low income families but Labor’s plan would lift that to 90 per cent.

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Public Service Officers patrol at St Kilda beach in Melbourne. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

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“What children learn at childcare is so vital for giving our kids the best possible start. But the current system of caps and subsidies and thresholds isn’t just confusing and costly, it actually penalises the families it’s meant to help,’ Mr Albanese said.

“If I’m elected Prime Minister, I’m going to fix this.”

Labor’s plan would remove the annual cap on the childcare subsidy, eliminating once and for all, the disincentive to work more hours.

Under the plan an Albanese government would:

• Scrap the $10,560 child care subsidy cap which often sees women losing money from an

extra day’s work;

• Lift the maximum child care subsidy rate to 90 per cent; and

• Increase child care subsidy rates and taper them for every family earning less than

$530,000

Another day, another question on childcare that the PM refuses to answer.

Is he seriously that out of touch with the lives of Australian families?

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 8, 2020

“This means 97 per cent of all families in the system will save between $600 to $2,900 a year. No family will be worse off,’’ Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese’s big-spending budget-in-reply speech also unveils a huge boost to apprenticeships, jobs and bringing down power prices with a big investment in the nation’s electricity network.

Under a plan to reduce power prices, Mr Albanese said Australia should be a renewable energy superpower, updating the electricity transmission system.

“Labor’s Rewiring the Nation will invest $20 billion to rebuild and modernise the grid, in line with a blueprint already completed,’’ he said.

“Australia’s electricity network was designed for a different century, and transmission systems themselves are operated by monopoly providers who keep taking households and businesses for a ride.”