Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lingiari for her question, and I also join in welcoming the early educators who are here in Parliament House today for question time. Last week we announced the increasing of workers' wages for workers in the early education sector by 15 per cent—10 per cent in December, with $103, and then a further five per cent in December of next year, adding up to $155 a week. There are two parts to the deal: increased wages as well as keeping fees down for families. This is policy that's good for workers, good for children, good for families but, importantly as well, good for our economy.

We know that accessible, affordable child care is key economic reform. It is low-hanging fruit—if we can increase workforce participation and boost productivity. It means that women will be able to return to the workforce earlier or work additional time, helping family budgets and making an enormous difference to our economy. It follows in the great tradition of other Labor reforms as we move towards universal provision, Medicare, superannuation and the NDIS—these great economic reforms that are not only good for our economy but also good for our society.

I'm asked how this has been received, because we know that those opposite take a different view. The minister today was talking about the comments of Senator Rennick yesterday, who said that it would 'destroy the family unit' and it would 'brainwash children early with the woke mind virus'. We know that this is a fellow who's been supported and personally endorsed by the Leader of the Opposition. But, to my surprise, the senator has doubled down. He wrote to me yesterday. It explains, perhaps, why he's not only against childcare provision. This is what he had to say about cost of living on behalf of the coalition. He said: 'The best way to deal with the cost of living is to repeal the financial deregulation that occurred under the Hawke-Keating government.' So now we have the policies of nuclear energy in the 2040s, divestment of supermarkets and financial deregulation to go. We'll just re-regulate the whole economy and that will fix it! Don't worry about paying people properly. Don't worry about economic reform or workforce participation. How out of touch are they?

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