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

I thank the member for McEwen for his question and, of course, for his ongoing advocacy for low-paid workers in McEwen, such as the wonderful early childhood educators that we visited together at Mernda Early Learning Centre in McEwen. Labor knows that people are doing it tough, whether that's in McEwen or indeed in Cowan. Since the Albanese government came to office, we've been laser focused on delivering real cost-of-living relief for Australians without adding to inflation. This is not just something we say. It's something that we do by ensuring that people can earn more and keep more of what they earn.

During the election, the Prime Minister promised to absolutely back an increase to the minimum wage. And now, in government, we've overseen and supported not one, not two, but three wage increases for low-paid workers. From 1 July, the latest increase in the annual wage review will see another 2.6 million workers better off. For early childhood education workers—those dedicated professionals who care for and educate our most precious asset, our children—that's a further 3.75 per cent pay rise. On this side of the House, we see decent wages as part of the solution, not part of the problem, to the cost-of-living challenges. It's why we're not only getting wages moving again but also delivering tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer. For an early childhood educator, Labor's tax cuts and the wage increases mean this: an extra $109 per week back in their pockets since we came into office.

For too long, the incredible work of early childhood education workers has been overlooked and undervalued. That's why we've also made an historic commitment to provide funding towards a wage increase for early childhood education and care workers. It's an important step to properly valuing them but also an important foundation for the reform that we want to see to the vision that we have for an early childhood education and care sector that is universal in that it is accessible, it is affordable and it is, importantly, inclusive. We've already delivered more affordable early learning for more than a million families, down by 11 per cent on average. We're already delivering cost-of-living relief to our early childhood educators, with more to come. And we're getting on with the job of achieving our vision for Australia's children, because only Labor has a vision for an early childhood education system—

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