Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government's budget shows a blatant disregard for education. This budget attacks child care. This budget attacks four-year-old kinder. This budget means our youngest Australians' educational journey will not get off to the start that our four-year-olds deserve in a modern, First World country. On child care, come 2 July, the government will make it harder for the most vulnerable families in my community, in the electorate of Lalor, to access early education. There are 4,337 families in my community set to be adversely affected despite the trumpet blaring from those opposite about their great new childcare package. That is almost one in four families. The complex set of rules that families will need to satisfy to qualify for government assistance will knock thousands of low-income families out of the system, and children out of early education and care.

The activity test views early education as a child-minding occupation, and the Liberals seem to think if you aren't working in a full-time capacity, your child shouldn't have access to early education. In the federal electorate of Lalor, nearly 10 per cent of people work between one and 15 hours. Not only does that demonstrate a shift towards casualised employment, it demonstrates the Turnbull government are seriously out of touch when it comes to their new unfair childcare package and their unfair hurdles that will keep kids out of early education. The activity test provisions require families to use an online system. That's a joke in itself with this government's track record with anything online. It requires families to report to Centrelink, where the government have cut thousands of staff.

What this government fails to understand are the practical applications of its policies. It has crunched the numbers alright but without thought for lived experience. Early education and childcare places are not flexible in the way this package suggests they are. Reduced or increased need for places or days or hours will cause mayhem for centres and for families every quarter when they do their predictions. The 1 July date is fast approaching and the government is asking centres to assist registration processes on an online system with no support, with no funding to support them to do the government's work. The government has given no consideration to the management of the new system in the real world.

This government also does not have a policy when it comes to preschools. In Lalor, 5,348 children are set to be worse off under the Turnbull government, because it has failed to invest for universal access to preschool beyond 2019 and has abolished funds for the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care. Australia-wide, 350,000 kids will be in limbo as a result of this government's inaction on the one hand and action on the other.

To further disappoint, in the budget there was no commitment to extend the national partnership funding for the national quality framework, which has seen 50 per cent of services improve their quality rating when reassessed. But now, through shock cuts, the government has shifted the cost of implementing and regulating the quality framework wholly onto the states and territories—a surprise for the states and territories. It's disappointing the Turnbull government is actively boasting about its 10-year plan to cut the taxes for big business, but don't have a one-year plan for early education and kindergartens.

We have a Prime Minister who doesn't understand the value of education. It is disappointing but not surprising that the government are walking away from quality early childhood education. Since 2013, they have managed to take the word 'education' out of the phrase we use. They are now walking away from quality as well as from education. They have cut funds, which will in effect cut the capacity for inspections. In essence, they have abandoned quality. Since taking office they have disregarded the educative value of preschool and have locked out the most vulnerable four-year-olds in my community from the start they need. They've done this to fund their $80 billion handout to big business and the banks.

I'm proud to be part of a Labor team that, unlike the Liberals, understands that, when it comes to education, money spent is an investment in both the future of our children and the future of our nation. I call on the government to see sense, to review their budget and to include funding for early education, childhood and kindergartens.