Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This budget is exactly what we've come to expect from an out-of-touch, out-to-lunch third-term government when it comes to education. There is no agenda and no vision on moving the country forward. Everyone in this country knows that you just can't trust this government when it comes to properly funding education—from early childhood education through to our TAFEs and universities.

Today though I want to focus on the early childhood education and childcare sector. The science is settled. If we fail to invest in education, we pay for it in the long run. The earlier you start the greater the economic benefits that flow. The preschool years are critical to giving children the very best start in life. During the election campaign I was proud to campaign with Labor's policy of universal access to preschool for all three-year-old and four-year-old Australian children. Labor initiated universal access for preschools for four-year-olds and it has been a great success. With 90 per cent of a child's development occurring in the first five years of life, investment in these critical years pays dividends throughout the entirety of someone's life.

That's great news for children, who will get the best start in life to ensure that they reach their full potential. It's great news for families, who will get relief from the ever-mounting costs of child care. And it's great news to have a smarter and more engaged cohort of younger Australians as we take our stake in a global knowledge economy. This is all borne out by a recent EU study that showed that, for the three years, every dollar spent on early childhood education returns $4 to the economy.

As Australia heads into a period of increased global tensions and uncertainty, it's more important than ever that we create an economic agenda that extends beyond the short term. The Treasurer frequently asserts that the economic fundamentals are strong, but this government has done nothing for six years now. How can the Treasurer believe his own rhetoric when we're faced with a downturn in terms of trade, historically low wages growth, and chronic underemployment and youth unemployment? We need to capitalise on the economic benefits of investing in education and kickstart the productivity that's missing from our economy.

That's why this budget is so disappointing. One of the most disheartening measures, especially in my electorate of Newcastle, is the cynical attitude to the funding of child care for four-year-olds. I call on the minister to go back to the cabinet and fight for real funding that our early childhood educators, our parents and our children can count on. But this shouldn't come as a surprise. The Liberals just don't get the importance of education. They never have. They see education as a line item in the budget, ripe for slashing, rather than as an investment in our national prosperity. They've cut billions from schools, they've cut billions from universities and TAFE, and now they won't even guarantee preschool funding. They've also made it harder for regional and remote early learning centres to stay open. It's very interesting that the National Party stood by while the budget based services in their electorates were demolished by this government.

It has been a very disappointing time, especially given what we're seeing for the future of Australia's preschoolers. There was an opportunity for the government to commit to Australian preschool funding, to recognise that the two years before school are really important and to invest in them, but, as is so often the case with this lacklustre government, we have a minister who sees the portfolio only as a means to find some cuts and bide his time until he gets a portfolio he really cares about. The UK, China, New Zealand, France and Ireland have all expanded their early childhood education programs to include three-year-olds. It's time we caught up. Australian kids deserve better, Australian families deserve better, and our country deserves nothing less.

I ask the minister: when will funding for the universal access to the early childhood education agreement expire? Will the government extend the agreement? Has the agreement for the 2020 preschool year been signed by the states and territories? I ask him to come to my electorate of Newcastle and explain to new parents and early childhood educators why their children and students don't deserve funding security, and why centres like Samaritans Early Learning Centre in Newcastle, which I visited last week, don't deserve secure funding. While he's there, he might like to explain to the families of Stockton why he's letting the Stockton Early Learning Centre literally slip into the ocean, leaving the community with zero access to early learning.

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