Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. How is that Albanese Labor government delivering on its promises for better access to early childhood education while also addressing the cost of living?

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. The member, as a mother of two young children—two very cute young children, I might add—knows very well that access to affordable early childhood education is vital not only to a child's development but also to our economy. On 21 May Australians voted for change, and we have not wasted a single day in office delivering that change. The Albanese government has certainly hit the ground running, delivering for Australian families and securing a better, brighter future for our children in just six months.

We said we would make sure that all Australian children, no matter their background, could have access to the benefits of quality early childhood education and care—and we have. We said we would ease the cost-of-living pressures on families by making early childhood education more affordable for 1.26 million Australian families—and we have. We said we would give parents more choice and boost productivity by ensuring that more primary caregivers could work more days, work more hours and take on more study—and we have. We said we would build the relationship the previous government broke with the early childhood education sector by recognising them as professionals and not just childminders—and we have.

Our investment in the early years of a child's life that we have delivered through the bill that passed last week to make early childhood education and care more affordable secures a bright future for all Australian children. The evidence tells us that children who participate in a high-quality early learning programs have better educational outcomes, better health outcomes, improved literacy and numeracy skills, greater school retention, and higher graduation levels. Indeed, those benefits follow a child through school and well into their adulthood. That investment it is also important for our economy because it means that more primary caregivers can go to work and add to the household budget if they so wish. It gives women and families more choice and more opportunity to increase their household income. After a decade of waste—and a wasted decade—the Albanese government is delivering for Australians, just like we said we would.