Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on its election commitments to make early childhood education more affordable and accessible for Australians, to ease cost-of-living pressures?

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

I thank the member for Calwell, my dear friend, for her question and commend her unwavering dedication to the people of Calwell, to the families of Calwell and to the children of Calwell.

If I may, I will take the opportunity to welcome everybody back for the new year—welcome to 2023. This is the year that early childhood education will become more affordable for over 1.26 million families right across Australia. That is because of this government's legislation, which passed last year, within our first six months of being elected, through the cheaper child care bill.

From 1 July this year, the government is lifting the maximum subsidy rate to 90 per cent for families in electorates like Calwell, where 7,000 families will benefit from our reforms. That means that families will have more choice. They'll be able to participate in the workforce, and, importantly, it means that they'll be able to give their children a better start in life. We went to the election with a comprehensive plan for early childhood education and care. We went to the election with a promise to ensure that more parents could go back to work and balance work and care responsibilities. We went to the election with a commitment to allow more parents to go back to the workforce, take on more hours, boost their household income and boost productivity and the economy. This year, all of that becomes a reality.

We said we would make early childhood education and care cheaper, and we have. We said we would deliver cost-of-living relief for parents in Australia, and we have. We said we would create opportunity for more primary caregivers to return to the workforce, and we have. We said we would deliver real cost-of-living relief for families who work out their household budgets based on how much they have to pay in early childhood education fees. Many of us in this place have been there, where we sit down and calculate how many hours we can work before those extra earnings—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume her seat for a moment. The member for Barker will rise to his feet and withdraw that comment.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

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

As I was saying, we said we would make early childhood education and care more affordable, and we have. But that's not all. That's not where it ends, because we've also tasked the ACCC and the Productivity Commission to undertake comprehensive reviews of the sector, to look at pricing mechanisms and to see what more could be done within the sector.

We went to the election saying we would reduce the cost of living for Australians. Through the bill that we passed last year, we have done that. We're committed to giving children the best start in life. We're committed to providing cost-of-living relief for families and parents right across Australia. We said we do it, and we have.