Mr WARWICK SMITH (Minister for Family Services) (1:57 PM) —I acknowledge the contribution from the previous speaker, the honourable member for Barton (Mr McClelland). We have had quite a number of speakers on the Child Care Legislation Amendment Bill 1998 this morning. There will not be time for me to completely sum up. At 2 o'clock I will seek leave to complete my remarks after question time, before this bill goes through the parliament again.

There is a second reading amendment from the Labor Party. Keep in mind, however, that the Labor Party did support the child-care legislation when it came through the parlia ment last year, and they are continuing to offer support to the fundamental underpinnings of what we are attempting to do in child care in this country.

What we are attempting to do is redress the problems that we inherited and which have been acknowledged in the primary bill debate by the opposition in that there was an unplanned procedure that applied in the child-care industry and that there was the provision for far more places and we were funding to a level that was unsustainable. What the legislation does, with the support of this place and the support of the Senate, is to make sure we put in place a proper structure to deal with planning.

One of the misleading elements, hypocritical elements, in the amendment put forward by the opposition relates to reductions in the outlays. Reductions in the outlays are a direct consequence of the planning proposals which the Labor Party themselves approved only last year. I believe it is totally hypocritical to be moving this second reading amendment. We are spending $4.9 billion, nearly $5 billion, on child care over the next four years, providing an additional 83,000 places. We are concerned about quality child care for Australian families and access in an affordable way for families to ensure that they have a range of choices from family day care to after school hours care, and also from the community care sector and the private care sector.

Providing families with choice and the opportunity to exercise that choice with the strong support of Australian taxpayers is the design of this legislation. With $1.2 billion this year and an additional 18 per cent over two years, there have been real increases. To hear from the opposition, as we did this morning, about a range of these matters was totally and completely hypocritical. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.