Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I'm looking after you, brother! But on top of that we've got to do more.

We need more people getting qualifications as early childhood education teachers and as educators through the fee-free TAFE places. Skilled migration is part of that as well. State governments have got an important role to play—you might have seen recent announcements by the Victorian and New South Wales governments here. That's important, as is paying our early educators better. In the Liberal Party's comments in the Senate report on the legislation, they talked about workforce, but they didn't talk about paying our early educators more. It's the big silence in the Liberal Party. They never want to see anyone paid more. Multi-employer bargaining, which is part of the workplace relations legislation, is a key part of helping to attract and retain more people in this sector.

In the time I've got left, I will mention that the shadow minister—the former Minister for Education and Youth—talked, importantly, about a couple of things. He mentioned COVID and the short- and long-term impacts it's having on students. He focused on universities, but it's just as right to talk about schools.

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