TRANSCRIPT – SKY NEWS NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT

Angie Bell MP
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education
Shadow Minister for Youth
Federal Member for Moncrieff

TRANSCRIPT

SKY NEWS – NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT

3 February 2025

Subjects: Labor’s cheaper child care con, Desperate Labor’s personal attack ad

E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………………

KIERAN GILBERT:

Welcome back to the program. Joining me now is the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Angie Bell. Angie, big focus in your space this week. Jason Clare is talking about introducing or expediting the bill, which would remove the activity test for three days of child care for those that work or don’t work, study or don’t study, the activity test will essentially be gone. What’s your position on it, given the speed with which the government is acting on this?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, we haven’t seen the legislation at this point, Kieran, and we’ll look at that very closely, take it through its usual process. But our position on the activity test is that it’s a very important measure, to make sure that $15 billion worth of taxpayer subsidy goes to those who are working, training or looking for work. And, I think that’s a very, very important measure. There’s also means testing that is in place to make sure those who need it actually get that taxpayer subsidy. It’s so very important.

KIERAN GILBERT:

So that the means testing remains. That’s a key for you. If the government does get it through and you’re elected, will you reinstate an activity test?

ANGIE BELL:

I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little bit there, Kieran. 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.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Okay. So, you want to see, first of all, what it says. If it is means tested, would you be more inclined to, support?

ANGIE BELL:

As far as I’m aware, there’s no changes to the means testing, just the activity test for three days a week of care. But this guarantee does nothing to address quality or affordability or access. I think it’s important to understand that Labor’s been in power for three years and have not delivered one new child care place across the nation.

KIERAN GILBERT:

And one of the arguments that the minister has made, though, is that it’s not just about the productivity measure of allowing mothers to get back to work. It’s also about affording the best possible care and education for young Australians, and those that get that early support from educators will perform better in kindergarten when they get there. Is that a fair argument?

ANGIE BELL:

Well look, I think education and care, of course, is very important for Australia’s children. However, means testing is important along with the activity test to make sure that those funds that taxpayers pay, $15 billion a year, go to those people who need it – who are working, studying or training.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Would you be inclined, at this stage, to want to see that re-instated? I mean, you said we’re getting ahead of ourselves…

ANGIE BELL:

Well, we are.

KIERAN GILBERT:

But it seems like a key principle of the Liberal Party, though.

ANGIE BELL:

Well, we are getting ahead of ourselves because we have to head towards the federal election. We haven’t won that election yet. Our policies are still being formulated. We’re at the pointy end and we look forward to sharing that with you as we go forward.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Well, one of the things that’s been noticed, The Australian reporting, that there’s a discrepancy between what the government is saying the cost is, at $430 million or thereabouts over five years, and what the Productivity Commission says, which was over $1 billion a year. Do you have any insight as to why there is that discrepancy?

ANGIE BELL:

What I will say is there’s a lot of discrepancies around Labor’s policy costings. They are claiming that Australians are paying less for child care. This is a cheaper child care con from the Labor government because since they’ve come into power, costs have gone up by 22 per cent, and out of pocket costs for families since their new measures came into place, are up by 12.7 per cent. So families are not better off. We’re in a household recession and this has not transpired to cost of living relief.

KIERAN GILBERT:

With the Labor attack ad that’s come out, we know it’s election season, but are you sensitive to the accusation that you don’t want to stand in the way of people getting more support, given that cost of living pressure you spoke about?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, we have actually supported many of those measures that are in that Labor attack ad. They are more Labor lies – misconstruing, misinformation from the Labor Party. They are playing the man and not the ball with this. And it reeks of a desperate government who’s trying to win a second term, and who are failing on every measure.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Obviously, as we saw in that ad, and this will be a big part of the campaign, they’ll warn about the potential cuts that will be made by the Coalition when in office. That’s obviously a key argument that will be made. Is this, again, something that you factor in when looking at these child care changes, that you don’t want to give them another target?

ANGIE BELL:

Sure. I’m not going to talk about our child care policy today, but the Coalition is looking at wasteful spending by this government. What we’ve seen is an extra $6 billion on public servants in Canberra, that is wasteful spending, and that’s something that Peter Dutton talked about yesterday. What we’re talking about in the lead up to the next election, is finding where those savings can be made, and they are not frontline workers. It’s wasteful spending by this Labor government.

KIERAN GILBERT:

Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education Angie Bell, thanks. Appreciate it.

ENDS.