Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor has always been the party of fairness, families and working people. In less than three years in government, the Albanese government has put forward transformative policies to build a universal early childhood education system accessible to all families. We had no choice. In the last four years of the former coalition government, childcare prices went up twice as much as the OECD average, by 49 per cent. Why was this the case? It is not enough to say those opposite are poor economic managers. They like to tout themselves as great economic managers, but the statistics tell a different story. But it's not just that. The mismanagement and neglect by those opposite of the early childhood system and of families more broadly go far beyond this. Those opposite have had an insidious contempt for fairness and inclusion, and that has played out in the to early childhood education sector.

Those opposite to me have not put forward one cost-of-living policy in their time in opposition. I'd like to hear just one cost-of-living measure. Those opposite to me do not advocate for families, for equal opportunities and choices for women or for an equitable and open educational system to give every single child the same start to life. They never have. I doubt they will.

In contrast, the Labor government are building Australia's future when it comes to our policies on early education. There is the three-day guarantee. We want to make sure every child gets the best possible start in life. That's why we've introduced the three-day guarantee for all families. This is to guarantee all families three days of childcare subsidy each fortnight, with 100 hours guaranteed for families caring for First Nations children and families who work, study or train. Over 100,000 families across this country will be eligible for more subsidised hours of early education. That is at least 100,000 children or more—probably a lot more because it is 100,000 families—who will access the transformative benefits of early learning.

For a moment, let's just think about the ripple effect of this. Just one child in my electorate of Wills has the potential to make a difference to the lives of those in their community, to the entire country. Each of these people has the potential to contribute positively to the world around them. Times that by over 100,000 and that's the ripple effect you will see. Early education matters. It makes a difference, and it's just another step in Labor's plan to build a universal early education system and save an average family around $1,370 in the first financial year.

When the former coalition government delivered their 2018 childcare package, they halved the number of subsidised hours of care that low-income families could access. They halved it, from 48 hours to 24. I don't think you can change those facts. They know they did that. The number of low-income families accessing care went from 32,000 to 6½ thousand. This was no accidental policy; it was built on the ideology of those opposite to increase inequity and exclude communities of people from accessing education and care. They don't rate it; they don't believe in it; therefore, they didn't do anything about it. They might jump up and down in these types of motions and play the opposition card, but when they were in government, they halved it. Under this government, through the cheaper childcare policy, we have increased the subsidy, meaning a family earning $120,000 with one child in care three days a week saved $2,140 last financial year. That is thousands of dollars back in the pockets of families, mums and dads to help provide them cost-of-living relief so they can invest in their children's future.

We know that child care means investing in and respecting the crucial work of early childhood educators. That is why the Albanese Labor government announced a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education workers, investing $3.6 billion to make that happen. That means a lot for those early educators who are committed to the kids in their care and their education.

It might be a cliche, but it really does take a village to raise a child. It also takes a lot of transformative policies across child care, early education, families and health. It takes a commitment, and a deep respect for equity and fairness, for education is what gives us that start in life, and that's what this Labor government is all about.

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