Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise on this private member's motion by the member for Newcastle today. Obviously, as my colleagues in the chamber understand, education is a passion of mine, not just because of the outcomes but because of the levels of engagement in education and the translation into community development in electorates like mine, which are growing so quickly. People come from all over Australia and all over the world, many with young families. I note that the contribution the member for Dunkley just made confirmed to me the government's complete lack of understanding of the importance of education—their lack of willingness to prioritise early learning and their lack of ability to say the phrases 'early learning' or 'early education'. It has been the saddest thing for me to note in this parliament, in my five years here, that every time I hear a government member speak they cannot bring themselves to say 'child care' or 'early education'. They see this as a childcare service and completely lack understanding of the importance of education for three- and four-year-olds. This government needs to very quickly commit to funding for four-year-old preschool, early learning and 15 hours universal access beyond 2019. They seem to not understand that, without certainty, the sector cannot plan, cannot train staff and cannot act to retain staff. This causes a funding cliff or fear of a funding cliff that disrupts early education. In an area like mine, it is critical.

My local government is still involved in early education through kindergarten programs. Some are the traditional three sessions a week and others provide a long-day-care model, but, critically, with a trained and qualified kindergarten teacher in charge of those programs. It is critical in my electorate where, three years ago, up to 30 per cent of four-year-olds were not accessing education. It is critical. We have families from non-English-speaking backgrounds and families with crippling disadvantage. It is critical that those children are given an opportunity to learn through play based learning programs and develop positive and adaptive behaviours, as well as the social skills and problem-solving skills that they need once they hit a classroom. Ninety per cent of a child's learning capacity is developed in the first five years, so Labor's announcement around four-year-old kinder, which gives certainty to the sector nationwide, is absolutely critical. I call on the government to match that and put it in the budget. If it's not in the budget then it's not being planned for. It needs to be budgeted for now. Further, I call on them to match our commitment to 15 hours of universal access to three-year-old kinder. In my region, the sector needs that planning certainty into the future in order to develop and do the capital expenditure works that are required and to ensure that we have enough physical environments to make sure that kids get the opportunities. It is an incredibly important thing that we speak of today. There are 10,000 three- and four-year-olds in the electorate of Lalor—5,000 four-year-olds, as we speak. The electorate of Lalor would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Labor policy going forward and is the community that is hurt the most by this government's lack of willingness to provide the certainty for even four-year-old kindergarten and early learning. So I again call on this government: please, get your priorities right around what supports families.

I want to conclude by saying that for five years now I have stood here and I have listened to speaker after speaker of those opposite fail to mention early learning. But more, what I hear from those opposite is a lack of understanding of poverty; a lack of understanding of what it is like to live in a family that lives day to day and week to week, where any bump in the road, any unexpected bill, can throw a family into chaos. I want those opposite to think about three-year-olds and four-year-olds who find themselves living in those circumstances and how important it is for those children to have stability in their lives, and stability often provided by early learning and provided by our qualified and highly-skilled early childhood education teachers.

See this speech in context