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

In our first term, our government has brought down the cost of child care for over one million families by an average of around $2,700. That's additional money they have in their pockets. In addition to that, we're boosting the wages of up to 200,000 early educators by some 15 per cent—10 per cent from 1 December last year and five per cent from 1 December this year. More than 1,000 new childcare centres have opened since we came to government three years ago, and nearly 100,000 more childcare places are available since we came to government. There are 42,000 more early educators at work and 125,000 more in training. This is what reform looks like and this is what change looks like—making sure we are making a difference.

Of course, it is about choice for families. Families will make their own decisions, but the truth is that many families can't make the choice they would like to either because the childcare places aren't available or because child care is unaffordable and it doesn't make sense to work that extra day or two days. That's why early childhood education is not just about families or children; it's also about our economy. The three Ps of growth—participation, productivity and population—are all boosted by having a childcare system that works for people and enables people to take up their choice in life.

The announcement I made in Brisbane on behalf of the government was twofold. First, there is the three-day guarantee, abolishing the activity test and making sure that makes a difference. All the assessments that had been made showed that the activity test was a barrier for the most disadvantaged—those who were missing out. Second, we recognise that infrastructure is also important, which is why we announced a billion dollar fund to build new childcare centres in our regions and our outer suburbs, cooperating with state and territory governments. Co-location is a great example to stop that double drop-off as we move forward.

Back in the days when oppositions announced policies that were fully costed and set out, I announced this in my first budget reply, and the changes that we've implemented this term have made a real difference—an additional $2,700, increased wages for early educators, 1,000 new childcare centres, 100,000 more childcare places and 42,000 more early educators. It is a substantial record of achievement. It's consistent with what Labor governments do. A Labor government created universal Medicare because every Australian has the right to quality, affordable health care. A Labor government created universal superannuation because every worker has the right to retire in dignity and security. A Labor government created the National Disability Insurance Scheme because every Australian with disability has the right to choice and control over their life. We did all of that to help people, but it also helped build our society and our economy. And the Labor government wants to build a universal childcare system, one that's simple, affordable and accessible for every family. This legislation is the next step towards that, and I'm pleased that it will pass the House and the Senate today, to make that step towards reality and to make sure that every child can access at least three days of subsidy for high-quality early education and care.

Of course, universal and accessible don't mean compulsory or mandatory. The choice, as always, belongs to parents. But we want parents to have a real choice, not limited by where they live or what they earn. We want parents to make their decision on the basis of one thing only: what they want for their child. This is the big difference between the two approaches in this House. Every Australian accepts that, when a child reaches the age of four or five, they get to go to school and that public schools should be available to everyone, regardless of the income of their parents, regardless of everything, because it's about the child. Indeed, one of the benefits of schools that are diverse in the people and the background of those who come to them is that it enriches their experience in life. Child care is the same. We believe that a right to that should be available to all.

We know that more than 90 per cent of human brain development occurs in the first five years. That's why early education is so enriching. When I go into these centres—as I have, now, around the country, particularly over the last five or six years—I am inspired by the largely female, but also male, workforce, who are so enthusiastic at imparting knowledge in literacy and in numeracy, and in engaging those social skills that are so important for our youngest Australians at a time, as well, where there is too much conflict and hatred indeed around. One of the things that you learn is that hatred and distinction is learned behaviour, because those little kids don't see colour or faith or gender or anything else. What they see is other little fellow human beings, and they engage in a way which is absolutely delightful and wonderful, with each other.

So we think this is so important. More than a million families, of course, access child care. That's why there's more than a million reasons to invest in early education. It makes such an important difference to those young people. And it makes them ready for school—to step up to that next level—as well.

Part of what we are doing is the Building Early Education Fund, the single biggest investment by a Commonwealth government in new childcare services ever, building and expanding over 160 new centres where they're needed most—especially in regional communities, that have missed out for too long. These are places that have been left behind because the private sector didn't see an opportunity for profit. When the market lets people down, our government steps in. Building new childcare centres is about breaking down the barriers of distance.

We also need to break down barriers the previous government deliberately put up, starting with the Liberals' activity test. The activity test makes life harder for parents doing the hard yards of looking for work, locking their children out of early education. Parents do not need to go through a bureaucracy or work a certain number of hours to want the best possible education for their child. The aspiration to give your child the best chance in life drives every parent, whoever you are and wherever you live. This legislation will replace the Liberals' activity test with the three-day guarantee in early childhood education, meaning that every family earning up to $530,000 will have access to the childcare subsidy guaranteed for three days a week. That's our commitment. It's three days of early education, affordable for every family, funded for every child and building a better education system for our nation.

Of course, on the day that we outlined these policies, the Liberals and Nationals opposed them. They mocked our pay rise for early educators, even though all of the evidence was not only people not wanting to go into early education but that many of the workers there, in spite of their passion for their vocation of helping our littlest Australians get the best start in life, couldn't afford to stay in the system and so they were leaving. So that was placing a real constraint. But we fixed it. They called it wasteful spending. It's on the chopping block as part of their $350 billion of cuts they have foreshadowed. They'll tell us what's in them after the election, not before. That's before they have to find $600 billion to pay for their nuclear fantasy sometime in the 2040s.

Those opposite talk about child care as a luxury that parents have to prove they need. We know child care is an essential service for families. We know early education is an opportunity that every child deserves to have access to. The whole of the 20th century it was understood that every child has the right to go to school and government has the responsibility to make that possible. In the 21st century, every child has the right to have access to early education and government has the responsibility to make that possible. My government is determined to do just that. Those opposite, in their opposition to this plan, like their opposition to everything else, just reinforce how reactionary they have become. Anyone who wants to look forward to a better Australia is not welcome in the modern Liberal Party. The modern Liberal Party is more and more right-wing by the day. It sees Simon Birmingham and Paul Fletcher checking out, following Christopher Pyne and others as well. Will the last moderate in the Liberal Party turn the lights out before they leave the building? That is what they are like.

We know that this reform reinforces my view that it is only Labor governments that do the big nation-changing reforms. Off the back of universal health care, universal superannuation, universal provision of the National Disability Insurance Scheme will be universal provision of child care. That is something we're determined to do step by step to make sure that we get it right. That is how you build Australia's future, something that my government is determined to do.

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