No deal, says Labor on childcare bill

Relief for parents paying childcare fees looks as far away as ever after Labor ruled out supporting a Turnbull government omnibus bill that bundles an overhaul of subsidies with welfare cuts.

"They say you can only get the childcare if you take the cuts," shadow treasurer Chris Bowen told ABC radio on Thursday.

"These are just the same old cuts which the government's been trying since 2014. We're not interested in that game."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the childcare changes had been very well received.

"The sooner they are passed, the sooner they can come into operation and the sooner these families can benefit," he told reporters at Parliament House.

The opposition is also concerned about an activity test the government proposes for a new childcare subsidy and support for indigenous and rural parents.

While it was willing to work with the government on those issues, Mr Bowen said the coalition had shown no inclination to listen.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said no matter what Labor thought of the welfare cuts, he hoped the opposition would look carefully at the omnibus bill and the "inherently fair" childcare changes.

"Labor ought to reconsider their decision because these are actually truly progressive reforms," he told reporters in Canberra.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter accused Labor of standing between Australian families and better child care as well as low-income mums wanting more paid parental leave.

"This is once-in-a-generation reform to child care that Australian families are absolutely screaming out for," he told reporters in Canberra.

The government was open to negotiating measures in the omnibus bill with crossbench senators but thought they were justifiable and well-known, having been policy during the 2016 federal election.

The new means-tested childcare subsidy will cover up to 85 per cent of costs for low-income earners and not be capped for people earning under $185,000.

The existing benefit is a means-tested subsidy paid to the childcare provider, while all parents get a rebate covering half their fees up to $7500 per child.

But the bill for these changes now includes 16 separate measures to cut welfare payments, including phasing out the annual Family Tax Benefit supplement but increasing the fortnightly payment by about $20, and forcing under-25s on to the lower youth allowance instead of the dole.

The welfare cuts help pay for the package and leave the budget bottom line better off by $4.3 billion.