Senator STEPHENS (2:31 PM) —My question is to Senator Patterson, the Minister for Family and Community Services. Can the minister confirm she is planning to use money currently provided under the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy to improve parenting skills and family connections to communities? Is the minister aware that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs stated in a press release dated 5 March this year that he would be going forward in the next budget to have the highly successful Stronger Families and Communities Strategy continued beyond the end of this financial year? Why is the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs arguing publicly in support of the program as it is when it is clear that you are planning to reshape the program and fund part of your national agenda for early childhood using Stronger Families money?

Senator PATTERSON (Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women) —This gives me the opportunity—and I acknowledge that Senator Stephens said the highly successful Stronger Families program; thank you to Senator Stephens for acknowledging a program—

Senator PATTERSON —It must have been a mistake—I heard her say `the highly successful Stronger Families program'. Labor has just admitted that we have a program, a highly successful one. Thank you, Senator Stephens, for an own goal. A Stronger Families and Communities program—

Opposition senators interjecting—

The PRESIDENT —Order on my left!

The PRESIDENT —Senator Faulkner, come to order!

Senator Faulkner —What about him?

The PRESIDENT —Senators on both sides of the chamber come to order so that we can hear the answer to the question.

Senator PATTERSON —Somebody said in an interjection that she was quoting something. At least she has admitted that it is a successful program. This is about working with communities. We are committed to working with communities to strengthen and build them through programs like Stronger Families and the business community partnerships where we have seen outstanding things occur between business and communities in developing stronger families and stronger communities.

Mr Latham, a bit like he has been with the Indigenous affairs issue, came to this as a Johnny-come-lately—the late Mr Latham, you could always call him—coming in, running in behind on government policies, but we have got a disagreement between Mr Swan and Mr Latham. Mr Swan was going out saying that he was going to change Stronger Families and Communities and have two major programs being directed out of Canberra. That is really clever. That is really smart in the ways in which you would actually deliver programs on the ground to communities. We have seen some very interesting and exciting developments occur out of Stronger Families and Communities, and we have seen Mr Latham saying he wants to do things at a local level and Mr Swan saying he wants to run something out of Canberra. Until they can actually get together, develop a policy and work out what they are going to do, they will sit on the sidelines scaremongering, carping, concocting conspiracies and misrepresenting what is going on. Labor need to get on, develop some policies and tell the Australian government what they are going to do, if they think they are going to ever have their hands on the levers. We have a program which Senator Stephens has now admitted is a highly successive program. It is about developing that program in a way that continues to deliver services to families and assist them in building a stronger community.

Senator STEPHENS —Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I cannot believe that that was the answer to a question about the national agenda for early childhood. I ask the minister to confirm her plans to reshape the program. Can she explain why the government has still not brought forward its national agenda for early childhood, which was a strategy first recommended by its Child Care Advisory Council in September 2001? Why have Australian children had to wait three years until the eve of another federal election for any assistance?

Senator PATTERSON (Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women) —Mr President, I can understand that Senator Stephens may not be aware of the very significant research programs we have undertaken on early childhood—the one that the Australian Institute of Family Studies is undertaking and the two other projects that are being undertaken to develop a better understanding of the important developmental aspects of early childhood in Australia. A lot of the research we rely on is not from Australia. There are two major longitudinal studies. We have been working on the early childhood agenda. It will always be a work in progress. I am not going to, however many times—and Labor can get up here from now until the election—they ask me, say what might or might not be in the budget. No minister has ever done that in the past, and I am not going to start to do it now. Labor need to get on and develop some policies of their own, come out and put them on the table. Let us examine them and see what they think they would do if they ever got their hands on the levers of government. (Time expired)