Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The topic tonight is early childhood education. It's an area in which I've had quite a bit of experience recently. I've spent the last eight years with kids within early childhood education. This is the first year, with my young son moving off to prep, that I'm not having to go to an early childhood education centre on particular mornings of the week or doing the pick-up. During that time, that eight years or near decade in which I was engaging with the system quite regularly, I really gained an appreciation for the sector that I hadn't had before—the amount of care and dedication of the early childhood educators, the passion that those who work in the sector have for it and the enjoyment that kids get out of it. What they learn is far more than what can I teach them at home. They come home with many different perspectives and new skills, and that demonstrates the strength of the Australian early childhood industry.

Since I was elected to this place in 2022 I've also had great opportunities to visit and be a guest of so many centres across the Redlands, not just the centres that my kids attended. The opportunity to read a book to children or engage with some of the educators across my city is a wonderful treat, and it's a great privilege that I get to have as the member for Bowman. So any time there is any legislation in this area of early childhood education I'm always interested to see what the implications are going to be for my local parents and my local sector. Unfortunately, when I look at this bill, the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025, while I see a lot of good intentions, when I dive into the detail I don't think it is really what is required to fix the issues the sector is facing or get the parents the support they need in order to get what they need out of early education.

The coalition will be opposing this legislation, and we are doing so for a number of reasons. There are several issues with this bill, including the removal of priority access for working families—and I'll talk a bit more about that later. It also de-incentivises aspiration, it increases access without addressing supply issues, it does nothing to increase the access or flexibility for families and it does not address the current cost-of-living pressures.

Of course supply is a major issue, and I find that that's the major issue relating to early education that comes up when I talk to parents and prospective parents across my electorate. We've had some new investment in some new centres, but it's very difficult at times to actually find a spot for kids. It's alright for those who are already in the system or who have the ability to get younger siblings in through some sort of preference system for those centres that have that sort of process, but it's often very difficult to lock in a spot for your kid, even in my electorate, which is outer-suburban. We're by no means a childcare or early education desert, as some communities are, and I've heard a lot of my colleagues talk about the issues they've been facing with a lack of supply within their electorates, not just in relation to this bill but throughout this term.

It's concerning that this bill will do nothing to assist those communities. It's hard enough to find a spot within outer-suburban communities. I remember the time when my wife and I were trying to find a spot for our children. Many centres don't even bother responding to your requests, emails, or investigations because they've got that big a waiting list. They've got that much demand and so little capacity to actually supply that demand that it's not even worth their while responding to you. I know that's been the experience, when I'm going door to door in my electorate, that has been felt by many parents. Some are lucky enough to snag a position, but often it's a long way away from the homes of these families.

Deputy Speaker Vasta knows well the difficulties for those who work in the inner city of Brisbane and have to commute from Brisbane's bayside—that it can be a great challenge, particularly for those early drop-offs. But thankfully a lot of these early childhood centres are open quite early to allow bayside parents to drop off and head into work. Of course, two-thirds of my electorate head out of my electorate for work each day, and it is a challenge, but it is wonderful to know that you are leaving your children in the care of such dedicated and wonderful professionals. So supply is a major issue, and we're concerned that this bill does not do enough in that area.

Now, it would appear that it's only going to increase access for a small number of families, but it will have wide-ranging effects on all families. Families who need early childhood education so they can work will be competing against families who have extra subsidised access but who may not be working, studying or volunteering at all. That's a challenge for us economically. If we've got a parent or a pair of parents who are working hard and are desperate to get their kids into a centre, they're now going to have to compete, on an equal playing field, against parents who are not working or who may not be working or who may be working less.

I think it just comes down to a question of basic fairness. I think it makes sense for there to be an activity test. I think it makes sense economically, because we want to encourage people to work and we desperately need more people working in our economy. Also, I think it makes sense from a basic government fairness perspective. Why are we offering such generous subsidies to those who may have greater capacity to look after their children at home against those who don't? We know—we've all had this experience within our electorates—of so many Australian families who are having to take on extra shifts and extra jobs. Young mums who may have wanted to take longer maternity leave are going back earlier because they simply can't afford the impact of the current cost-of-living crisis. We've seen 12 rate increases over the course of this government, and it's become increasingly difficult for Australian families—

See this speech in context