Ms MURPHY (Dunkley) (15:58): There are times in this chamber when it almost feels like being Alice in Wonderland. It's like you live in an alternate universe to the people on that side of the chamber. The things that the members on the other side of the chamber say are so fundamentally disconnected from the actual lived experiences of people like the people in my community, we must almost be living in different countries. We have all of these members of the government—from the minister, who's turned his back on me, down—and none of them so far have addressed the research released today by the Front Project. So far, none of them have addressed a survey of 1,700 families showing that 73 per cent of families say the cost of child care is a barrier to having more children. We have the member for Higgins saying: 'Oh, isn't it wonderful! Families can have as many children as they want.' That is, as long as they're all under five—she forgot that part of the impact of the government's policy. And there was no reference, none whatsoever, to the cost of child care being a barrier to having more children for 73 per cent of families. While we're pretending this is a debate in this chamber—for once, because they're not gagging us during the MPI, like all the other times—let's also talk about some of the other ridiculous things that were said on the other side of the chamber: 'Oh, great! We announced a policy.' Well, good, you did, after a long time suggesting that Labor was lying and making up stories about why the childcare system was broken and needed to be fixed. It would seem to me that the fundamental basis of introducing reforms is to accept that the system isn't working, because what else were you doing when you were apparently reforming it? Let's also ask the people who spoke before me in this debate, who lauded all these families in their electorates who are going to be better off: have any of you told them they won't be better off for a year? They will be better off in 12 months because there will be a federal Labor government with a childcare policy so much better than yours that it will put yours in the shade. Honourable members interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members on both sides. Ms MURPHY: To the members of the government sitting over there, to the child who's yelling at me, the member for Moncrieff and the member for Higgins are talking about how much better off people will be under this policy and no-one is talking about the fact it doesn't start for 12 months and, even then, 750,000 families will miss out. So next time you are talking about your policies, maybe talk about the actual details so people know that they will not be better off tomorrow or next week or next month; they will be better off possibly in 12 months, if you are re-elected. Some 750,000 people are left out. The way that people will be better off under a reformed childcare system is if they vote for a Labor government. You know, it was 2 February of this year that the Age had an article entitled: 'High childcare costs push 90,000 parents out of the workforce'. Members of the government keep talking about how amazing they are. Government members interjecting— Ms MURPHY: Perhaps if you stop yelling at me and listen to this, you will hear I'm talking about a real person in my electorate. Honourable members interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Dunkley will take her seat for a moment. Members on both sides, the level of interjections is too high. Members will cease interjecting. The member for Dunkley. Ms MURPHY: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. On 2 February this year, the Age reported, with the headline 'High childcare costs push 90,000 parents out of the workforce', the story of my constituent, Emily Hovette, who is 33 years old, who works full-time and her two-year-old daughter, Margot, is in child care five days a week and her out-of-pocket expenses are $350. She and her husband, who also works full-time, plan to have a second child. How are they going to pay for it is what Emily asks. How are they going to pay $700 a week? She said it's 'a hell of a lot of money and it's going to be really tough, but we are prepared to do it because there are no other options'. She said: I just think it's a bit of a broken system personally. I'm trying to work to set up a future for my family and also show my daughter that women can be successful in the workplace. Under a federal Labor government, she would save over $6,000 a year, assuming she gets a 50 per cent subsidy, and that's how women will be successful in a workplace under a federal Labor government.