Children's Voucher Programs

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-132136

Hansard session: Fifty-Eighth Parliament, First Session (58-1)

Children's Voucher Programs

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (17:00:51):

I move:

That this House:

(1)Notes that from 1 January around 750,000 children across New South Wales will be ineligible for an Active Kids or Creative Kids voucher.

(2)Notes that from 1 January the twice yearly Active Kids $100 vouchers and the yearly Creative Kids $100 voucher will be replace by two $50 vouchers for those children who remain eligible.

(3)Notes that from 1 July the $100 First Lap voucher will be replaced by a $50 voucher.

Every member in this House knows how important Active Kids, Creative Kids and First Lap vouchers are to our local communities. Many of us who have kids will have used those vouchers to help cover the cost of our kids' sports. No-one can understand why this Labor Government has decided to cut those vouchers for hundreds of thousands of struggling families right across our State. Shame on each and every Labor member. The Active Kids, Creative Kids and First Lap vouchers are a brilliant initiative from the former Government. That government knew how to support hardworking families in this State. Under the former Government, every single family and child was eligible forward two $100 Active Kids vouchers, one $100 Creative Kids voucher, and one $100 First Lap voucher a year. Those vouchers were a lifeline for many families who are struggling with the cost of living. They ensured that their kids could run, kick, play and swim without financially burdening their families.

At the start of this year more than 4.85 million vouchers were redeemed, saving families $481 million while helping to relieve the pressure on many struggling families' budgets. The vouchers were not just to ease the cost of living. They helped to boost grassroots sport and promote healthy and more active lifestyles for our kids. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 70 per cent of children fail to meet physical activity guidelines, leading to a poorer academic outcome and increased childhood obesity rates. We want to keep our kids off their iPads and Xboxes. We want them to get outside to enjoy the fresh air and teambuilding that comes with playing sport. Labor has gutted, slashed and cut this program. Under Labor, 750,000 families will now miss out on those crucial vouchers. Under Labor's plan the outlook is very bleak for the limited number of families who are still eligible, because they will not receive $300 worth of vouchers that other families did under the former Liberal-Nationals Government. Labor has created an insignificant package that will do nothing to help to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures that so many families are facing.

Under Labor, families who receive the Family Tax Benefit Part A will now receive only two $50 vouchers under the combined Active and Creative Kids vouchers scheme. The First Lap voucher also will be cut from $100 to $50. Under Labor, New South Wales families will always pay more and get less. The member for Bankstown and former member for Lakemba is a good guy. He is one of the good ones in Cabinet. On 10 June last year, the member for Bankstown said the price of everything is going up and we are in a cost-of-living crisis. I could not agree more with him. I think he needs to pick up the phone and speak to his Cabinet colleagues. We are still in a cost‑of‑living crisis, so why has the member for Bankstown endorsed a plan that will result in hundreds of thousands of families facing more financial pressure? At the next cost-of-living forum, the member for Canterbury and the member for Bankstown will have some very tough questions to answer from the many families in those electorates as well as those from right across south-west Sydney who have to pay more under Labor.

What makes this debacle even worse is that before the election the Premier assured the people of New South Wales that Labor would fund the Active Kids and Creative Kids programs. It seems that is not the case anymore. Labor is slashing the Active Kids, Creative Kids and First Lap vouchers. That is not a productivity savings; it is a brutal hit on the budgets of New South Wales families. Labor is not just crossing numbers off its broken budget spreadsheet. It is cutting a program that has helped hundreds of thousands of kids get active while enjoying their favourite sports. Why should families in New South Wales have to choose between having their kids play sport or putting food on the table? Opposition members on this side of the House know that Labor cannot manage a budget. When it runs out of its own money, it comes after ours.

My friend the member for Rockdale and Minister for Sport has struggled for months to give us a straight answer on whether he will keep the Active Kids, Creative Kids and First Lap vouchers. Are they in or are they out? In the Minister's electorate of Rockdale, one First Lap session for a three-year-old costs about $23 at the Sans Souci Leisure Centre. Under the Coalition Government, a family living in the Rockdale electorate could have received just over four free lessons. Now the Labor Government has cut that in half. When it comes to helping young kids to get active and remain active in local sports we are seeing cuts and more cuts.

Mr Matt Cross:

Think of the children.

Mr MARK COURE:

Absolutely—think of the children. Members on this side of the House will always keep up the fight to bring back the Active Kids vouchers for all families in New South Wales.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (17:32:43):

In reply: I thank the member for Campbelltown, the member for Coffs Harbour, the member for Leppington, the member for Ryde and the member for Auburn for their contributions. As a father of two young boys, we are soccer-crazy at home. I know how important these vouchers are to many families across my local community. Thousands of kids are active in sport for the very first time. In fact, the next Neymar Júnior, Messi or Ronaldo could come from the Oatley electorate. Since 2018 over 55,000 Active Kids vouchers have been created, with a take-up rate by families of over 70 per cent in my electorate. Sport is part of the fabric of our communities, and it is now under threat, thanks to members opposite.

Just this week I turned the first sod on a major upgrade of the netball courts and skatepark at Olds Park in my electorate, and one of the first questions I was asked on social media was, "How are my kids going to enjoy these new facilities if we cannot afford to register them to play sport?" That is the cost of Labor's broken promises to hardworking families in my electorate and across New South Wales. Kids will miss out on weekend sports, all because Labor does not know how to manage a budget. Some 750,000 families now face the prospect that they cannot send their kids to play sport because money is tight. During a cost-of-living crisis, the Government decided to cut one of the most widely used cost-of-living programs in the State. It is up to Labor to now explain to the parents, the kids and the grassroots sporting organisations across New South Wales why it cannot manage a budget.

In the past 12 months we had the member for The Entrance supporting the Active Kids vouchers. Where is he now? He is silent. The member for Wallsend supported Active Kids vouchers. Now there is silence. The member for Heffron supported Active Kids vouchers. Where is he now? There is silence. The member for Port Stephens supported Active Kids vouchers, but she does not anymore. The member for Gosford supported Active Kids vouchers on social media last year. She does not anymore. It goes on. The member for Coogee and the member for Swansea both also supported Active Kids vouchers. They are some of my favourites. They are silent now. Shame on those opposite.