Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In my electorate it's all about jobs and about getting our children educated and trained in the jobs of the future, including starting in the younger years. I want young people in our community to work in Lindsay, just like the member for Macquarie would aspire to her community not having to do that long commute out of the local area for work. With the Morrison government's unprecedented level of investment in Western Sydney, we're supporting existing businesses to take the next step, to grow, to back emerging industries and to create these jobs of the future.

To make sure we get the best outcomes from this investment, we need to equip local students with the skills and training they need so that they're at the forefront of these opportunities. Our plan is to create more local jobs and to deliver the education, the skills, the apprenticeships and the training that will enable local people to take hold of these opportunities, get these jobs and help Western Sydney lead our economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. In these emerging industries, science, technology, engineering and maths will play a key role. It's so great to go to schools across Lindsay and see how local kids are being educated in STEM and have a real passion for STEM. This leads to the jobs of the future. They're already paving the way, and this is really great to see.

We know that early childhood education is the key to unlocking the potential of our children before they go to school, and then stemming into learning as adults. It's critical that their development and their love of learning is nurtured at this early age. In Lindsay there are many child-care centres—we have 90 across Lindsay—that look after our children and nurture this early love of learning. The Morrison government is providing $453 million in 2021 to support access for up to 15 hours a week for preschool children in the year before school. This will benefit over 350,000 kids each year and prepare them for lifelong learning.

During coronavirus we saw how critical child-care centres were in ensuring that families could still work and manage looking after their kids. The Morrison government's support to the early childhood education and care sector throughout COVID has kept this sector viable and ensured that care continued to be available for essential workers and families with vulnerable children. Our child-care package includes the most significant reforms to the early education and care system for over 40 years.

As a mum who has always balanced work for the last 16 years and has worked in the area of child care and playgroup, I've got a really good understanding of early childhood education and parental responsibilities. I know how important it is to get it right. All three of my children have benefited from child care It has nurtured and developed their growth and love of learning before school. During the pandemic, I hosted a number of meetings with early child-care providers, and I know that the work we were doing to keep them in business and keep kids going to child care was so important. It meant that they didn't have to charge families a fee, including out-of-pocket or gap fees, and they could prioritise care to essential workers. I spoke to many child-care centres. One of them in particular, Explore & Develop early childhood centre at Glenmore Park, told me that during the coronavirus pandemic 99 per cent of the enrolments came back after that because of our support. This was something that was said to me across many of the child-care providers I have spoken to—that the support provided during the pandemic was really essential not only for keeping available places open and keeping children in child care, but returning enrolments as things open up throughout our community. So I'm really pleased about the care we're providing kids in Western Sydney. It will be even better when we have more jobs close to home so parents don't have to do that long commute to work.

Child care is a really important thing for our community. Many parents, many families use it. As I said, we've got 90 child care centres across Lindsay. My question to the minister would be, could you update the chamber on the great support the Morrison government is giving our families through children's early learning opportunities through child care and preschool education?

See this speech in context