Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Spence for his question. I particularly want to make note of his unwavering advocacy for families and children in Spence and the fact that 7,200 families in Spence have benefited from our reforms introduced in the parliament last year to make early childhood education and care more affordable by raising the Child Care Subsidy.

Indeed, when our Prime Minister stood on the other side there and made more affordable early learning a key commitment of a Labor government, he did that because he knew it was the right thing to do, and, from the day that we took office, we have been working for Australia to deliver on that commitment because, as a government, we know that it was the right thing to do. It was the right thing for children, giving them every single opportunity to thrive and giving them those transformational benefits of early learning. It was the right thing to do for the economy, boosting productivity and increasing workforce participation, particularly for women. It was the right thing to do for the country, laying the foundations for a better future. And, of course, it was the right thing to do for families, for whom the cost of early learning and care is a significant factor when they do their household budgets.

Our changes provide those families with real and responsible cost-of-living relief, easing the pressure on their family budgets. It's practical relief that's making a real difference to Australian families.

See this speech in context