Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I visited Cressy Road Early Learning in Bennelong. It was a joy to spend time with the children and their teachers, who are full of energy and creativity. The highly of my visit was receiving this wonderful tie that they painted and gave me. I promised them I'd wear it in parliament today to show how thankful I am. The children and educators gave me this gift because they wanted to say thank you to the government for the work we've done in early childhood education in only two-and-a-bit years in office. In our first budget, we made early childhood education cheaper, delivering cheaper fees for families across Bennelong and the country, and most recently we've delivered a 15 per cent pay rise to our early childhood educators.

On this side of the House we believe that these educators are some of the most important workers in our country. They deserve more than thanks; they deserve a pay rise. Our reforms will mean that the average educator will be paid an extra $103 a week, increasing to $155 per week at the end of 2025. It will mean that people won't need to leave the sector for better pay, it will mean that early educators will be able to afford to buy or rent a bigger place to live, and it will mean that the sector will be able to find more workers to teach our children. Pay rises change lives. Early education changes lives. We are a government that was elected to get wages moving again, and we're doing just that.