Maxine McKew (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care) Share this | Hansard source

In any given week in this building there are numerous presentations and events that are designed to focus the attention of all members. I have to say that one of the most arresting events I have attended this year was yesterday’s launch of a national Report card on the wellbeing of Australia’s children. The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth tracks the physical and behavioural wellbeing of our children. Their data shows a very mixed picture.

While Australia can take pride in the country’s immunisation rate, when we look at other indicators the red light is certainly flashing. As Professor Fiona Stanley said yesterday, ‘If this were the Olympics, we wouldn’t be bringing home any medals.’ She went on to point out some of the report card’s main findings. When it comes to infant mortality, Australia is in the bottom third of OECD countries and the rate for Indigenous Australians is more than double the non-Indigenous rate. Low birth weight figures are much higher than the best international data and, again, as Professor Stanley pointed out, birth weight is one of the most important predictors of healthy infant development. The rate of Indigenous teen pregnancies, again, is five times the national average. To be blunt: this means that babies are having babies. It means that young girls are having their education interrupted at a critical time in their young lives. These are awful statistics but not a surprise to many of us who work on policies for young children. I was particularly taken by the comments of one of the alliance’s directors, Tim Goodwin, who said, ‘It’s time we modelled success, not failure.’ I want to endorse that.

I was recently in the Northern Territory and I spent some time with the Pirlangimpi community on the Tiwi Islands. I was accompanied by the Territory’s education minister, Marion Scrymgour. Really, it is a visit I will never forget. I met many beautiful, lively children, concerned parents and hardworking teachers. Classrooms from preschool through to primary were lovely, inviting places, and the students were clothed in smart uniforms and just sitting there ready to learn. Small things are making a difference. There is carpet on the floors of the classrooms. Of course, this is helping to alleviate harsh noise and it is aiding auditory response with Indigenous children. But alongside that picture there are the depressing facts that only 12 per cent of these lovely children are reaching the benchmarks for literacy and numeracy. It means that those children at Pirlangimpi will not have the same choices as children in my electorate of Bennelong—to go to TAFE, to go to university, to take their place in a diverse 21st century world.

This for me is at the heart of the education revolution. Those who diminish this notion I do not think understand or perhaps have bothered to inform themselves of the wide range of policies the Rudd government are committed to. Our entire policy focus I think is revolutionary because it starts with very young children. Long before a child hits preschool— (Time expired)

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