Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a real pleasure to be able to support the member for Moncrieff on this motion. Just so everyone knows and understands what this motion is about, it's about making sure that we get more childcare places, especially in regional and rural areas, and that we address the cost-of-living crisis that is being forced on families by the government's failure to keep childcare prices down. This motion is:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) it has been almost three years since the Government was elected and the cost of child care has increased by a whopping 22.3 per cent;

(b) since the Government introduced its cheaper childcare policy, out of pocket costs for families have sky rocketed by 12.7 per cent;

(c) almost 30 per cent of child care services are charging over the hourly rate cap under the current Government, compared to 21 per cent under the previous Government; and

(d) this is just another broken promise from the Government, that continues to leave Australian families behind; and

(2) calls on the Government to deliver:

(a) more access to early childhood education and care places to support Australians to return to the workforce; and

(b) real cost of living relief to families.

This is especially the case in regional and rural Australia.

Deputy Speaker, as you know, if you cannot control inflation and the costs of business, the pressure that's going to be put on child care providers is enormous. What this government has failed to understand is that if you do not address the cost of doing business then you make life incredibly hard for businesses, including small businesses—and the majority of those who provide child care services are small businesses. On top of that, if you do not have policies which enable you to expand the number of places by ensuring that you are bringing on board people who will work in child care—those wonderful educators who provide that education and care to young people—then what you will see is childcare deserts created.

One of the things that the government should be doing, and should be doing immediately, is saying: 'Right, our first priority should be those areas where there are childcare deserts. That is what we should be aiming to fix.' Yet what we've seen from this government is an inner-city focus which has been all about addressing where they perceive concerns in the inner city. They haven't been able to look beyond the inner city to say: 'Okay, what are the policies? What do we need in regional and rural Australia in particular?' That is especially the case in my electorate of Wannon. What have they been able to do, especially in areas like Casterton, Portland and Warrnambool, to address the issue of workforce shortages and make sure that there are additional centres, because additional centres are needed but additional centres can't open up unless you can get the workforce that is required? Yet we haven't seen anything addressing those issues.

I thank the member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, for coming down to Wannon very early in this term, identifying that this is a real issue in rural and regional areas, particularly in my electorate of Wannon, and for agreeing to come back in the not-too-distant future to once again sit down and hear what is going on on the ground.

It is by making sure you're out there listening, speaking to families and understanding their needs and concerns, understanding how, especially when it comes to mothers, they're not able to get back into the workforce because they can't get childcare places—all those concerns are real concerns. It's so important to make sure that you get the policy settings right to address those issues so that you get sustainable settings for child care. If we continue to see the cost rises and cost increases that we're seeing under this Labor government, child care is going to become more and more unaffordable for Australian families. That's not what we want. Particularly in regional and rural areas, like in the seat of Wannon, we have to make sure that availability is there—especially in those regions and areas that need it the most. (Time expired)

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor has always been the party of fairness, families and working people. In less than three years in government, the Albanese government has put forward transformative policies to build a universal early childhood education system accessible to all families. We had no choice. In the last four years of the former coalition government, childcare prices went up twice as much as the OECD average, by 49 per cent. Why was this the case? It is not enough to say those opposite are poor economic managers. They like to tout themselves as great economic managers, but the statistics tell a different story. But it's not just that. The mismanagement and neglect by those opposite of the early childhood system and of families more broadly go far beyond this. Those opposite have had an insidious contempt for fairness and inclusion, and that has played out in the to early childhood education sector.

Those opposite to me have not put forward one cost-of-living policy in their time in opposition. I'd like to hear just one cost-of-living measure. Those opposite to me do not advocate for families, for equal opportunities and choices for women or for an equitable and open educational system to give every single child the same start to life. They never have. I doubt they will.

In contrast, the Labor government are building Australia's future when it comes to our policies on early education. There is the three-day guarantee. We want to make sure every child gets the best possible start in life. That's why we've introduced the three-day guarantee for all families. This is to guarantee all families three days of childcare subsidy each fortnight, with 100 hours guaranteed for families caring for First Nations children and families who work, study or train. Over 100,000 families across this country will be eligible for more subsidised hours of early education. That is at least 100,000 children or more—probably a lot more because it is 100,000 families—who will access the transformative benefits of early learning.

For a moment, let's just think about the ripple effect of this. Just one child in my electorate of Wills has the potential to make a difference to the lives of those in their community, to the entire country. Each of these people has the potential to contribute positively to the world around them. Times that by over 100,000 and that's the ripple effect you will see. Early education matters. It makes a difference, and it's just another step in Labor's plan to build a universal early education system and save an average family around $1,370 in the first financial year.

When the former coalition government delivered their 2018 childcare package, they halved the number of subsidised hours of care that low-income families could access. They halved it, from 48 hours to 24. I don't think you can change those facts. They know they did that. The number of low-income families accessing care went from 32,000 to 6½ thousand. This was no accidental policy; it was built on the ideology of those opposite to increase inequity and exclude communities of people from accessing education and care. They don't rate it; they don't believe in it; therefore, they didn't do anything about it. They might jump up and down in these types of motions and play the opposition card, but when they were in government, they halved it. Under this government, through the cheaper childcare policy, we have increased the subsidy, meaning a family earning $120,000 with one child in care three days a week saved $2,140 last financial year. That is thousands of dollars back in the pockets of families, mums and dads to help provide them cost-of-living relief so they can invest in their children's future.

We know that child care means investing in and respecting the crucial work of early childhood educators. That is why the Albanese Labor government announced a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education workers, investing $3.6 billion to make that happen. That means a lot for those early educators who are committed to the kids in their care and their education.

It might be a cliche, but it really does take a village to raise a child. It also takes a lot of transformative policies across child care, early education, families and health. It takes a commitment, and a deep respect for equity and fairness, for education is what gives us that start in life, and that's what this Labor government is all about.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I get into child care, and before the member for Wills leaves, I will take his challenge on. Divestiture of supermarkets, the toughest possible way to hold the supermarkets—the big two—to account would bring prices down for families that are struggling with their childcare bills, and they opposite voted against it. There's the answer to the member for Wills' policy on the cost of living—feel free to follow up with a prime minister. With the Prime Minister, we get a wet lettuce—mandatory code when the voluntary code is not working. He brags about it and it doesn't come into effect until 1 April 2025. Only in the Prime Minister's world can he take credit for a cost-of-living measure that hasn't even come into effect yet. I'll move on, but I wanted to treat the member for Wills with respect and answer his question about the coalition's cost-of-living initiatives.

It does link to child care, because families are struggling at so many levels. They are struggling to pay the groceries, they are struggling to pay for mortgages, for rents, for petrol—everything is going up. They are also struggling to pay for their childcare bills, which is why it is a real slap in the face to working families in Casey when the government continue to talk about the supposed savings that have happened under this government when the reality is completely different. As the member for Moncrieff has outlined in her motion, in the three years since the government was elected, the cost of child care has increased by 22.3 per cent. Since the government introduced their so-called cheaper child care policy, out-of-pocket costs for families have skyrocketed by 12.7 per cent. Almost 30 per cent of childcare services are charging over the hourly rate cap under the current government. Under the previous government, it was at 21 per cent. One of the reasons for that is, when you invest taxpayer money into subsidies without investing money into increasing the supply, you are going to drive prices up. It's economics 101, which we know is not this government's or the Prime Minister's strong suit. More supply with the same amount of demand will bring prices down, but the government has not focused on increasing supply of child care at all through this term of government.

I'm very lucky in my community to have a wonderful group called Mums of the Hills, led by Belinda Young, who does a lot of strong work advocating for many issues, particularly in the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley, including access to child care. Last year I was able to take the member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, the shadow minister for child care, to meet with Belinda and speak to mums that are impacted. I will share some of Belinda's analysis of the local childcare landscape and the childcare desert that we have that this government has not addressed in the last three years.

Data from 2024 continues to show that parents in the Yarra Ranges struggle to secure spots for their children. The situation is particularly severe in some suburbs, where ratios range from 10 to 50-plus children per place, making it nearly impossible for working families to access early childhood education and care. Many residents in my community have to travel outside of our community for work. The average commuting distance is 28 kilometres, and this is significantly higher than the Victorian average of 16.7 kilometres. So, for these families, access to long daycare hours is essential to account for the commute time. There's limited access to this long day care. It's leaving families without adequate care for their children, leaving parents making typical compromises between career advancement and the family obligations. According to data from the Mitchell institute, in Coldstream, there has been an improvement locally in childcare availability, but, even with that improvement, there are nine children for every one long daycare place available. In Silvan, in Monbulk, in Sassafras, in Wandin and in Seville, the ratios are ranging from 10 to 50-plus children per childcare place. In Ferny Creek, there are three to seven children per childcare place and seven to eight children per long daycare place. In Olinda, there are two to five children per childcare place and eight to 30 per long daycare place. But we haven't seen any focus on increasing places from this government. Two and a half or three years in, prices are up over 22.3 per cent under the Albanese Labor government. Imagine the damage they will do to child care in another three years if they get into government.

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

Labor recognises the transformative benefits of early childhood education and care, not just for children but for families, communities and our economy. Early education is the foundation for a child's future and helps build social skills, supports cognitive development and sets kids up for success at school and beyond. That's why we're committed to making sure every family, no matter their circumstances, can access quality care. We understand that every child deserves access to quality early education because it's good for kids, it's good for families and it's good for the economy. That's why we fought to make child care more affordable, more accessible and fairer across the country. Our Labor policies have benefited 9,000 families in Bennelong. Since coming to government, we've cut the costs of early learning by over 17 per cent, putting money back into the pockets of families during current cost-of-living challenges. An Australian family on an income of $120,000 a year, paying the average quarterly fee for 30 hours child care per week, is approximately $2,768 better off since September 2023. That's money for groceries, rent or savings, and that's real cost-of-living support for local families.

Compare that approach to that of the former government. Under their government, they neglected the value of affordable child care, with families watching costs skyrocket by 49 per cent—twice as much as the OECD average. They refused to act and worked families to struggle while they stood by. That has changed under our government. We appointed the ACCC and the Productivity Commission to each review the early education sector, ensuring consistent reflection of progressive development towards early learning. Our government puts the needs of our communities first and is focused on how best to improve them. Our goal is for a truly universal, affordable and accessible early education system for every Australian child. But we will not get there without the incredible educators who show up every day to support our kids, and, for too long, those workers were undervalued and underpaid. To right those wrongs, Labor delivered a historic 15 per cent wage increase over two years to retain the current workforce and to attract new workers to the sector. The universal system, which is our own, will need a well-paid, well-skilled and well-staffed workforce. Our 15 per cent wage rise will mean, on average, a full-time early childhood educator who is paid at the award rate will receive a pay increase of at least $103 per week, increasing to at least $155 per week from December 2025. Already, these wage rises are attracting new workers to the sector.

For educators, these reforms will mean better wages, greater job security and the ability to focus on what they do best—supporting young kids in their early years. For families, more affordable early learning means less financial stress and greater flexibility to work, study or balance other responsibilities. And we're not stopping there. From 2026, we'll replace the outdated activity test with our three-day guarantee, giving children of 66,700 families across the country access to three days guaranteed subsidised early childhood education per fortnight without forcing parents into unnecessary trade-offs. That will save these families an average $1,370 a year. And, for First Nations families, we're making sure children can access 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight.

We just heard the member for Casey talk about childcare deserts. He'd be pleased to know that an Albanese government will continue to expand our policies in early education through the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, ensuring families can access quality early learning in outer suburbs and regional communities, by building childcare centres in these early education deserts.

But the approach is very different. While we've been advocating for and actually doing stuff about affordable early education, the Liberals and Nationals continue to shun evidence based reforms that put Australian families first. We had a Liberal senator in the other place making ludicrous claims that 'early education destroys the family unit' or that early educators 'infect children with a woke mind virus'. This is just crazy stuff—views that are held by members of the Liberal Party. It's absurd.

Only an Albanese Labor government will keep delivering cheaper child care, better wages for educators and a future where every child gets the best start in life.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.