Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'm surprised that opposition members don't want to hear about cost-of-living relief for Australian families, but I guess they have voted against every other form of cost-of-living relief we've provided. I guess they've kept on voting against cost-of-living relief. But, unlike the opposition, Senator O'Neill and our colleagues are concerned about cost-of-living relief. It's an amazing statistic, isn't it, Senator O'Neill, that, under the former government, childcare costs went up by twice as much as the OECD average between 2018 and 2022? The Albanese government knows very well that Australian families are facing cost-of-living pressures across the board, whether that's in housing, energy, health care or child care. That's why, for our entire time in office, we've been delivering genuine cost-of-living relief, unfortunately so often opposed by those opposite. As Minister Gallagher has previously said, the Albanese government is rolling out measures to reduce the impact of cost-of-living increases, particularly when it comes to making early childhood education more affordable. The simple fact is that, under the previous government, early childhood education fees increased by around 49 per cent. These steep increases, overseen by the coalition, only served as a barrier for families to find places for their kids in centres. By contrast, the Albanese government know that our more affordable early learning plan is not just a social reform; it is an integral economic reform—one that is driving increased workforce participation, particularly for women, and enabling skilled workers to return to the workforce. More affordable early childhood education and care means that more Australian children can access the transformational health and education benefits of foundation-years learning, no matter what their postcode or background is. More affordable early childhood education and care is a win-win for Australian families, delivering cost-of-living relief while also making it easier to increase household income. The government is taking the next steps in building the world-class, affordable early childhood education system that Australian parents expect and Australian kids deserve.