Australian families can compare childcare services and their fees following the launch of the Morrison Government’s new website: StartingBlocks.gov.au.

Families can visit StartingBlocks.gov.au to find local childcare services, view vacancies, compare costs, and check official quality ratings, including safety.

Federal Member for Bonner Ross Vasta MP encouraged all families to visit the website and said it will have special appeal to the 250,000 families with more than one child aged under six who will get a higher subsidy soon.

“Childcare costs can place a great amount of pressure on families, that is why our Federal Government is committed to helping families save money, so they can keep more of what they make in their own wallets, Mr Vasta said.

“StartingBlocks will also provide quality ratings for things such as safety standards, this will mean families can feel more certain when they are making the decision on where to send their children for childcare.”

On average, families will be better off $2,260 per year, with families with three children in care saving up to $370 a week on out-of-pocket costs.

Acting Minister for Education and Youth, Stuart Robert MP, said the website gives parents a new central place to make important choices about the early education and care needs for their children.

“I’m particularly excited because thousands of families will be able to see the significant savings they’ll make when the higher Child Care Subsidy we introduced comes into effect on 7 March,” Minister Robert said.

“The website features two new very cool tools to help families make one of their most important decisions—who is going to look after and educate their children in these formative years.

“The first feature is a comparison checker for families to assess services against each other and determine which one is best for them. The second main feature is a simple-to-use calculator where families can plug in their details and get an estimate of their out-of-pocket costs.

“In only a few clicks, on mobile, laptop or desktop computer, parents can get accurate and current information to help them find the right service for their kids.’

“We know how critical childcare is to around one million Australian families. It is why the Morrison Government has invested heavily in early childhood education and care,’ Minister Robert said.

“Next financial year, the Morrison Government will invest around $11 billion in the childcare system to reduce costs for families and support workforce participation.

“In December, we removed the annual cap for all families who are eligible for childcare.”

CEO of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), Gabrielle Sinclair said children deserve the best quality early education and care, and StartingBlocks is an easy way to navigate Australia’s more than 16,500 approved early childhood education and care services.

“As the national authority, ACECQA is pleased to work with the Australian Government to reduce complexity for parents by enhancing StartingBlocks as the government-approved website to find and compare quality ratings, vacancies, fees and service inclusions in one convenient location.”

StartingBlocks.gov.au replaces the existing Child Care Finder website and reduces burden on approved providers of early education and care services, who no longer need to provide their fee and vacancy data separately to Child Care Finder.

Eligible groups and organisations in Bonner are invited to contact my office to discuss potential projects for nomination for an Australian Government grant to plant trees in honour of the legacy of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and her 70 years of service to Australia and the Commonwealth.

During this time, The Queen has visited Australia on 16 occasions, and on many of these visits has planted trees at community events and ceremonies—leaving a long-lasting reminder of the special occasion for the people in those communities. In fact, The Queen is said to have planted 1500 trees throughout Her reign.

The Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program is one of a range of national and community events planned by the Australian Government to celebrate The Queen’s Jubilee year.

Ross Vasta MP Federal Member for Bonner welcomed the opportunity for local community groups to play a part in the celebrations.

“What better way to celebrate the incredible service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, than by planting trees and creating more green spaces for our local community and for generations to come,” Mr Vasta said.

Grants from $2,500 to $20,000 will be available to a broad range of organisations with each federal electorate eligible to receive up to $100,000 for up to 10 projects.

Projects that are suitable must include formal commemorative events in 2022 to mark the Jubilee, plantings of regionally‑appropriate tree species, and installation of commemorative signage or plaques.

For more information and for how to get involved visit: https://business.gov.au/ptqj

My electorate of Bonner is home to a great array of innovative businesses.

In particular the port of Brisbane is a booming hub of Australian manufacturing success stories and local job opportunities, ranging from manufacturing to freight and logistics, technology innovation, maritime industries and warehouse storage.

Like many across Australia, these businesses have faced challenges during the COVID pandemic, but I’m happy to say that the port of Brisbane hub is now thriving with the help of our federal government support packages.

I recently had the pleasure of hosting the Treasurer at The Yard Brisbane in Hemmant, where we saw firsthand the benefits of the federal government’s economic support programs.

The Yard is an incredible maritime business that constructs and maintains vessels of all types and classes, from tugs and barges to high-speed passenger ferries and superyachts.

Julie and Nick from The Yard spoke to the Treasurer and me about the benefits of using JobKeeper, the instant asset write-off and the export market development grants.

Julie told us that these programs have enabled them to keep over 400 staff employed, meaning more money in the pockets and food on the table for so many local families.

Not only that, Federal government supports have allowed The Yard to plan for the future and expand their operations, creating more local jobs.

Another vital business in the port of Brisbane hub is Lineage Logistics.

Lineage Logistics might not be a household name, but they have kept food on the kitchen tables right across Australia during the height of the pandemic.

Lineage Logistics are experts in cold-food storage and have serviced businesses like Woolworths.

Recently, I was able to meet with Lineage to thank them for their work during the pandemic and to tour their impressive facilities.

The conversations that I had with people like Jay, the operations manager from Lineage, also gave me a greater understanding of supply chain challenges and how they will be able to address them into the future.

Unfortunately, like many industries during COVID-19, Lineage have faced labour shortages.

Thankfully, they were able to partner with OZ Labour force, who quickly filled the gap of employee shortages.

OZ Labour force are a great local business that I recently had the pleasure of meeting in the port of Brisbane hub.

They were able to supply skilled, reliable labour that kept Lineage operations running and food on supermarket shelves for Australian families.

OZ Labourforce benefited from our government’s JobKeeper package.

They told me that they are thankful for the ongoing supports that have kept their workers employed and their trucks moving across Australia.

Bonner is home to businesses with a wealth of knowledge, resources and a skilled labour force.

These businesses are leaders in their fields, not only in Australia but across the globe.

I’m proud to be working with, and delivering for, Australian businesses, and keeping jobs and opportunities local.

I rise to talk on an issue that is close to my heart and one that touches the lives of all Australians, and that is mental health. Mental health affects one in four Australians each year, with 75 per cent of mental health issues occurring before the age of 25. What’s even more alarming is that suicide continues to be the largest cause of loss of life for young Australians. That is why it’s so important that we continue to invest in our mental health services and ensure each Australian has access to the support that they need.

I’m pleased to say the Morrison government continues to deliver on funding for mental health. I have been a very strong advocate for mental health and I’m very pleased to update the House that we’re keeping up the momentum with my plan to deliver more mental health services on the Bayside.

The last time I spoke on this project was in November of last year after reconvening the Bayside Mental Health Working Group. With over 20 local mental health experts and community providers in attendance, the key focus of this meeting was delivering for youth mental health. During our previous meetings, the working group had identified youth mental health as a gap in desperate need of being filled on the Bayside. I invited Brisbane South PHN, in partnership with Feros Care, to present a local-subscribing and internationally recognised approach to youth mental health. Loneliness and isolation are known risk factors in multiple youth issues and the team presented a prototype for 14- to 25-year-olds. The presentation was very well received, with some excellent suggestions put forward from the working group which have now been incorporated into the model.

Co-producing the service is vital for its success and so the meeting was invaluable. I am very pleased to confirm that consultation with local youth has since commenced on the Bayside. This will inform the final model, which the team looks forward to sharing with us soon. I’m incredibly encouraged by this news, as it is evidence of seeing our local community groups come together with the common goal of filling mental health services gaps on the Bayside.

From these community roundtable discussions, I was introduced to Roses in the Ocean, which I have since partnered with to deliver a pop-up safe space pilot program on the Bayside. This program offers a drop-in, non-clinical alternative to emergency departments for people experiencing emotional distress or suicidal crisis. This model has been developed in recognition of the fact that acute clinical services, such as emergency departments, are not always the best fit for people in emotional pain and distress. These pop-up safe spaces offer an alternative – a welcoming environment that can fill the gaps that are currently in our system.

As the safe spaces are community led and locally designed, this enables them versatility to look, feel and operate in different ways, depending on the community’s demographic and geographical needs. They are also staffed by trained prevention peer workers, who themselves have experienced crisis and therefore can connect and relate to others through mutual understanding. There are currently five of these pilot programs across Australia, and I’m proud to say that through my advocacy I have been able to deliver one of these pilot programs in Bonner.

I would also like to take this time to highlight the Men’s Walk & Talk initiative, which is providing an incredibly important network for men within Bonner. In January of this year I joined with the Men’s Walk & Talk to celebrate their first birthday. This group was started by Jeff Kruger and Mitch Rowing. It focuses on supporting men by encouraging them to walk, talk and connect with other men in the area. What began as a weekly Sunday morning walk in Carina’s Minnippi Parklands was quickly embraced by the community. It was so popular, that in December of last year Jeff and Mitch added an additional walking route along the Bayside. Now there are over 50 men at both of these Men’s Walk & Talks each week. On last year’s RUOK? Day I was also able to sponsor a sausage sizzle for the men after their walk in Carina. This provided a time for them to catch up and get to know some of the new faces.

I’m a proud supporter of the local sporting clubs in my electorate of Bonner. I rise today to share how the Morrison government’s Powering Communities initiative has successfully delivered for the Mt Gravatt Vultures Australian Football Club, who are now enjoying the benefits of the $12,000 in funding they were awarded.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of supporting the club with funding for several projects to upgrade their facilities at Dittmer Park, including night lighting, field irrigation systems and construction of coaching boxes and spectator facilities.

With energy bills often being one of the biggest overheads for not-for-profit organisations, this funding was put towards the installation of solar panels to support the club’s endeavours to become more sustainable.

President of the Mt Gravatt Vultures, Daryl Guilford, recently let me know of the completed installation, and expressed the club’s sincere appreciation for the funding. Daryl mentioned the panels are already providing major benefits by reducing the power bills. This relieves financial pressure so the club can further invest in its growing football program, with over 600 male and female players.

In even more great news, these savings can go towards purchasing equipment like balls and training bibs, as well as facilities improvements that not only benefit players but spectators as well. This forms part of the club’s goal for 2022 and beyond, providing a great community club that welcomes all players, volunteers and spectators to an environment that they feel part of.

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Procedure, I present the committee’s report entitled Maintenance of the standing orders, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

It is with pleasure that I present the report of the Procedure Committee’s inquiry into the maintenance of standing orders. It has become something of a tradition for the Procedure Committee to adopt such an inquiry in each parliament. This allows the committee to consider how the standing orders have operated over the course of the parliament.

As the 46th Parliament nears its conclusion, the report reflects on aspects of the House procedure and on how the standing orders have operated in the past 2½ years. Some observations are specific to the 46th Parliament while others relate to the more technical aspects of the standing orders.

The committee has made nine recommendations. The first recommendation is to allow ministerial responses to petitions to be published prior to their presentation to the House. This would enable petitioners to have more timely access to ministerial responses. Currently publication of the responses can be delayed by non-sitting periods. The second recommendation is to remove the need for members to accompany the newly elected Speaker to his or her presentation to the Governor-General on the opening day of a new parliament.

This could streamline proceedings on the opening day. The remaining recommendations are more technical. They are intended to make the standing orders more reflective of current practice, improve consistency within the standing orders or remove redundant references. The committee recommends that some minor technical amendments be made as Clerk’s amendments.

In December 2020 the committee reported on the practices and procedures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have taken the opportunity to add some further observations in the report that I have presented today. The report also notes our view that it would be useful to monitor the impact on House business of sitting weeks that do not include a Monday sitting.

Finally, the report discusses a number of items of House practice relating to the operation of particular standing orders. These relate to time limits for speaking, business in the Federation Chamber and committee practice. In doing so, the committee hopes to assist members by clarifying some of the practical points about the day-to-day operation of the House and its committees.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the deputy chair, the honourable member for Oxley, whom I’ve known for over 30 years. We have worked together very well on this committee, and I thank him for his friendship. To the other members, such as the members for Chisholm, Ryan, Perth, Moore and Lalor, thank you very much for all the work you have done during the committee’s time.

You’ve made our committee run flawlessly and you’ve shown the better aspects of parliamentary work. To the secretariat, so ably led by Natalie Cooke and assisted by Kate, Penny and Jenny: thank you so much for your professionalism—well done. I commend the report to the House.

Over the last three years 120 tonnes of rubbish has been picked up by hand from Brisbane waterways by the incredible volunteers of Ocean Crusaders. Based in Hemmant, Ocean Crusaders specialise in waterway cleaning on a large scale.

I recently met up with Ian and the team at Ocean Crusaders to hear how the federal government support has enabled them to keep expanding their operations and is helping them achieve their vision for a cleaner Brisbane River. Ian, the founder of Ocean Crusaders, is exceptionally grateful for the ongoing support and has expressed to me how federal government programs have backed his team to enact meaningful, practical and innovative solutions to local environmental issues.

Most recently, I was happy to advocate on behalf of Ocean Crusaders to receive a federal government volunteers grant, which allowed the group to expand their volunteer capacity, making our oceans, waterways and beaches cleaner and safer.

I was also pleased to support Ocean Crusaders with funding for new solar panels through the Powering Communities Program for their innovative automatic river cleaner that they affectionately call Geoff. Geoff is an impressive waterway cleaning system, and I, alongside Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, was lucky enough to see it in action earlier this month. Geoff has the capacity to work 24/7 removing rubbish from our waterways and was developed by Ocean Crusaders. Geoff is completely powered by solar— (Time expired)