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

I'm very proud to speak in support of this important legislation about giving wage justice for early-childhood education and care workers. At the last election, we had a commitment to take action to make child care more affordable and to make the entire system more sustainable. We know that it had been neglected for the previous decade under the former government. And we know as well that part of the issue was that, in feminised areas of the workforce like aged care and child care, the truth is that, whilst during the pandemic we regarded those workers as being heroes, they weren't paid properly. In both of those sectors, the people, largely women, looking after our youngest and oldest Australians were underpaid and undervalued.

My government committed to fix that when in opposition. In my first budget reply, in the days when oppositions actually had costed policies, we put forward a costed policy to make child care more affordable. But we also committed to a Productivity Commission review which would examine the entire system and how it could be improved. This legislation brings together so many of the fundamental priorities of my government, like helping families with the cost of living, getting wages moving again for workers, taking action on economic equality for women and opening the doors of opportunity through education. This legislation reflects the approach that drives our government, meeting the challenges of the here and now while always looking to the future.

The challenge of the here and now is making sure that this sector has a workforce, because, without paying people properly, early-childhood educators were leaving the system, just like aged-care workers were leaving the system. We know that a fundamental precondition for bringing up the standards of early education is recognising the valuable contribution it makes. It is a valuable contribution to every young Australian who goes through that system, which is not child-minding, because we know that, in the first five years of life, human brain development is almost complete. They are the most important years. We don't question whether government has a role in providing universal education once a child reaches kindergarten age, and we recognise that there's a responsibility for society in funding education right through the school system, particularly, of course, in the public education system. But somehow, unlike many successful countries overseas, we haven't up to this point valued early-childhood education enough.

This is about valuing early-childhood education. The first step is valuing early-childhood education workers. Our government understands that, when we invest in early education, we're investing in two generations of Australians at the same time. We're investing in the young people themselves—the children whose skills and smarts will define our prosperity tomorrow—but we're also investing in the educators, families and employers of today. The low-hanging fruit when it comes to productivity improvement is increasing workforce participation. It is making sure that women can re-enter the workforce quicker after having a child or each child as they go through life. That, together with the other measures we're putting in place—the increased paid parental leave, the superannuation on paid parental leave—are all about economic equality based upon gender, which is something we put in the objectives of the Fair Work Act as part of our commitment.

It is four years ago to the day that the centrepiece of that first budget reply was a commitment to cheaper child care. And, two years ago this month, cheaper child care was at the centre of our government's first budget, brought down by the Treasurer. Those reforms have delivered meaningful cost-of-living relief for around 1.2 million families. Just as importantly, they've brought greater choice and flexibility to working parents across Australia, particularly women. More affordable and more accessible child care takes pressure off the family budget. It's also an economic reform that boosts productivity and participation. Making child care cheaper makes it easier to go back to work, and it increases the incentive to work an extra day or take an extra shift. That's good for parents who are seeking a balance between their career and caring responsibilities.

It's good for business, too, because employers get their valued staff back sooner, with all the corporate memory and skill that they bring. That's why affordable and accessible child care is good for the economy, good for parents and good for children, because of that early brain development that occurs in those first five years. Early education teaches children the foundations of preliteracy and prenumeracy. In recent times I've been in electorates right around the country—Swan, Newcastle, Chisholm—having a firsthand look at the extraordinary work done by these early educators. They're not just sitting and minding the kids but teaching them how to read, teaching them numeracy, teaching them communication skills. In addition to that, the children are learning social skills, interacting with each other, which is so important.

The truth is that it gives our young Australians the chance to listen to music and sing. I was in a centre with the member for Maribyrnong just last week, as well as our candidate there, Jo Briskey, who is a former head of the Parenthood and someone who has worked extensively in that area. Those young Australians in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne are just delightful, engaging with each other. It is one of the best things we get to do. I know that the minister, the member for Cowan, is particularly keen on visiting these centres and engaging—and I must say, she draws a better rabbit than I do!

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