Greens to demand activity test be totally scrapped if hung parliament
Labor would be pushed to spend millions more in childcare support should it face a hung parliament, as the Greens promise to pressure Anthony Albanese.
Labor would be pushed to spend millions of dollars more in childcare support should it face a hung parliament, as the Greens promise to pressure Anthony Albanese to abolish the activity test for five days a week if in a minority government.
In a bid to bolster its credentials on addressing the cost-of-living crisis, Labor confirmed it would expedite introduction of the legislation to replace the current activity test – which bases the number of subsidised hours of childcare a parent can access off how many hours they work or study – and introduce the bill to parliament on Wednesday or Thursday.
While the Coalition is opposed to the government’s newly announced measures that will see the test scrapped for three days a week at a cost of $427m over five years, the opposition refuses to say whether it would reintroduce the test for those three days should it win government at the next election, which must be held by May 17 at the latest.
“If you get three days of early education a week, you’re more likely to start school ready to learn. Fundamentally, that’s what this is all about,” Education Minister Jason Clare said.
According to a report released by Impact Economics in 2022, more than 40 per cent of women who were unable to work reported that caring for children was the main reason, followed by health conditions and disability.
Report author Angela Jackson said “too much time has been lost already”, given the sector and its advocates had been calling for the activity test to be scrapped for years and declared “further delays” to the legislation were not warranted.
Goodstart Early Learning and the Parenthood welcomed Labor bringing forward its legislation and urged parliament to pass the bill quickly, while demanding the Coalition clarify its position on the activity test, childcare worker wage rises and how it would address the “childcare desert” in some areas.
Greens early childhood education spokeswoman Steph Hodgins-May said despite Labor’s legislation being “half-baked”, her party would support the government’s bill.
“We recognise how important it is to bring cost-of-living relief to families and parents right across this country.
“But let’s be very clear, the Greens will be campaigning through to the election to keep (Peter) Dutton out and to ensure that we elect more Greens to deliver genuinely universal, free and high quality education for kids,” she said.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe said she would also support the bill, while David Pocock said he supported it in principle, not having seen the legislation.
While government modelling put the cost of scrapping the activity test for three days at $427m over the forward estimates, the Productivity Commission predicted such a measure would cost more than $1bn a year, with economists admitting they were unclear on how such a discrepancy between the two sets of modelling could exist.
Opposition childcare spokeswoman Angie Bell said the Coalition believed the activity test was an important measure through which to properly allocate $15bn in taxpayer-funded childcare subsidies, but refused to say what the party would do when it came to the activity test should it win government.
“We’ll have a look at what the legislation says and go from there. We’re getting to the pointy end of our policies now and we’re working through that with the party,” she told Sky News.
Adam Bandt said the Greens would also “have more to say” about their plans to use a balance of power to completely abolish the activity test as the election drew closer, leaving the door open to pressuring Labor to do so in exchange for the minor party’s support. “If the activity test is bad for three days a week, then it should be bad for five days a week and should go,” he said.
“We’ll have more to say about what we will be pushing for in the next minority government.”
As the issue of preferences at the next election continues drawing speculation, Mr Bandt urged Labor not to do any deal with the Coalition simply to “keep the Greens out”.
“I have heard some talk … that Labor and (the) Liberals may seek to do preference deals to try and keep the Greens out. I must say, Labor voters across the country would be astounded and shocked if Labor preference Peter Dutton,” he said.
“I know there are some figures within Labor who are talking about making that happen.”
Should Labor fall into a minority government, as some polls are predicting, it may find itself needing to secure supply with the Greens and other independents in the upper house, most likely senators Lambie and Pocock.
However, the Australian understands both senators have grown increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to follow through on deals struck with them in exchange for their support for some key pieces of legislation.
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