Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I want to congratulate the member for Adelaide on bringing this very important motion before the House. Investment in our kids and in early childhood education is of critical importance to not only the future of those young people but also the future prosperity of Australia. That link between early childhood education, human capital and economic performance is now well understood and accepted. The World Bank, the OECD, the Economics of Education Review and James Heckman—who is a Nobel laureate in economics—are organisations and individuals that are not discussing education as some kind of abstract pursuit. They recognise education as a key economic driver, one that makes a real difference to a country’s productivity and prosperity. The results of their research into what can be achieved through education are encouraging and inspiring and send a very strong warning to Australia. Despite all the evidence of its critical importance, we are just not doing enough to get our children in this country off to the right start when it comes to their education. Failure to invest in early childhood education—in the learning that takes place before children start their formal schooling—is a wasted opportunity for the child and ultimately for the country.

Apart from being precious members of our families, our children are also incredible assets to this country. We now know from recent developments in brain research the extraordinary capacity for young brains to learn and absorb. One researcher in this field, Jack Shonkoff, describes children as being born ‘wired for feelings and ready to learn’. He says, ‘During this early period of life brain cell growth and wiring of connections drives remarkable linguistic and cognitive gains.’ In other words—as every parent knows—children are sponges. They want to learn, and we need to give them every opportunity to satisfy that urge to learn and explore and develop.

Building on this research into brain development is the work of Nobel laureate James Heckman, who concludes that learning starts before formal education begins and sets the foundation for success or failure at school and life. But what should really get governments reaching for the playdough and for the chequebook is James Heckman’s emphasis on the exponential impact of quality early childhood education. Investing in early childhood education brings benefits at that early stage of life that continue to benefit the child throughout each stage of his or her education. Early learning means later educational experiences have greater impact. This is echoed by the World Bank statement that ‘it is never too early to start investing in our children’s future but it can easily become too late’.

Sadly, in Australia, when it comes to investment in early childhood education, we seem intent on testing out that theory. Participation rates and investment in early childhood education in Australia are low by international standards. OECD figures from 2005 show that more than one-third of four-year-olds did not receive any pre-primary education. This is partly explained by further OECD figures which place Australia almost at the bottom of the league table of about 30 developed countries when it comes to spending on pre-primary education. In fact, we are at the very bottom. That is not good enough for our children. It robs them of opportunities and it risks our nation’s future prosperity.

That is why a Labor government will make early childhood education a priority. We have made it clear through a number of policy announcements—and I might mention for the member for Ryan’s benefit that they are very detailed policy announcements—how we would do that. But, as the World Bank says, it is never too early to start investing, so today’s motion invites the government to act now and take up those proposals. As the member for Adelaide’s motion sets out, it starts with the universal right to early learning for all four-year-olds. All four-year-olds would be entitled to 15 hours of play based learning per week for a minimum of 40 weeks delivered by a qualified teacher. These early learning programs could be provided through existing preschools and kindergartens or through childcare centres and family day care schemes. An investment of $450 million to assist centres with this initiative will mean that there is no increase in fees and charges to parents as a result of the expansion of learning programs.

Quality early childhood education starts with great teachers. We need a major commitment in Australia to building up our workforce in this area. That is why Labor’s plan includes a significant investment in the education of early childhood teachers and childcare workers. That means 1,500 new fully-funded university places in early childhood education, a 50 per cent HECS remission for 10,000 early childhood graduates working in areas of need and, as we have heard, no TAFE fees for childcare trainees. Once again, I congratulate the member for Adelaide on putting this important motion on the Notice Paper. This is an investment that our country needs and that our children deserve. (Time expired)

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