The Abbott Government currently has legislation before the Parliament which will cut the Child Care Benefit that 5,640 families in the Federal Electorate of Blaxland rely on, more than any other electorate in Sydney.
Today Acting Shadow Minister for Early Childhood, Amanda Rishworth, visited The Little School for Little Children at South Granville with Member for Blaxland, Jason Clare, to stand up for the child care assistance and the families who attend this great centre.
Western Sydney is set to be one of the hardest hit areas by the Abbott Government’s cuts to the Child Care Benefit.
Of the New South Wales communities with the highest number of families receiving the Child Care Benefit, eight out of the top 10 are in Western Sydney – with over 45,000 families in Western Sydney relying on the Child Care Benefit to help hold down a job and make ends meet.
The Child Care Benefit is a means-tested payment to low and middle income families to assist with the cost of child care. This cut will directly hit families earning as little as $42,000 a year.
“The Education Department has admitted 500,000 low and middle-income families will be worse off because of this cut,” Amanda Rishworth said.
“This directly hits those families who can least afford it, including many parents who would otherwise be forced to leave the workforce.”
“Since the election, the Abbott Government has announced over $1 billion in cuts to child care – this is just the latest.”
This is an unprecedented attack – no previous government has ever moved to cut the Child Care Benefit.
“With so many families relying on the Child Care Benefit, our local area is set to be one of the hardest hit in Australia by this cruel cut. It means families in our community will lose the help they need to make ends meet,” Jason Clare said.
“This shows how out of touch Tony Abbott is. He is cutting help for families on low incomes at the same time as he wants to give people $50,000 to have a baby under his paid parental leave scheme.”
“Labor will fight this cut – but we can’t do it alone. We call on crossbench Senators not to support the Abbott Government’s cruel attack on low and middle-income families.
“The Government has made their desire to cut child care clear, but together we can stop this cut by voicing the community’s opposition to the crossbench Senators who will have the final say,” Amanda Rishworth said.
Jason Clare said now is the time to send a strong message to the Senate that these cuts should be stopped.
To take a stand against Tony Abbott’s targeted child care cuts sign the petition here: http://www.alp.org.au/targetedchildcarecuts
THURSDAY, 10 JULY 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: RYAN HAMILTON 9790 2466
