Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On a Thursday in late June, I woke to the sad news that the co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, Stefan Romaniw OAM, had died. This came as a shock to me, as it did to the broader Australian Ukrainian community. As a member of the Australian Ukrainian community by marriage, and as the former chair, then deputy chair and now current chair of the Australia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, I'd known Mr Romaniw for over 15 years. He had been a leading light in the campaign to defend Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and his efforts started long before the tragic events of 24 February 2022. He'd worked hard to garner support for Ukraine from Labor and coalition governments and the Australian community. In 2001, Mr Romaniw's service to language learning and to people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds earned him a well-deserved Medal of the Order of Australia.

On every occasion I met with Mr Romaniw, he was warm and friendly. He always greeted everyone with a big smile, but when you met him you could be in no doubt that behind that smile and his disarming demeanour was a persistent and tenacious advocate for his country and homeland.

I feel privileged to have known Stefan, to have worked with him and to call him a friend. I offer my deepest condolences to the Romaniw family and to all in the Australian Ukrainian community who knew, loved and respected him so much. I extend those condolences to the staff and committee of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations and its affiliates—in particular, to its co-chair, Kateryna Argyrou—and to the Ambassador of Ukraine, His Excellency Mr Vasyl Myroshnychenko. In the spirit of solidarity with Ukraine, I am sure Mr Romaniw would like me to end this speech with these words: slava Ukraini!

The second issue I wish to speak on today is in support of the 15 per cent pay rise for approximately 200,000 early childhood educators. As a former early childhood educator myself—probably the only one in the parliament with hands-on experience—I know that educators have been fighting for decades to be properly paid for the skills, qualifications and professionalism that go into their work. I was one of those in that fight, back in the early 1990s.

Those of us who have worked in the sector understand that these workers are more than just childminders, and I've been advocating for decades for early childhood educators to receive pay that recognises their skills, qualifications and professionalism. They do more than just feed children, play with them and wipe their noses or change their nappies. They deliver a structured program of learning that sets children up for life with the social, physical, intellectual and emotional skills and capabilities they need.

Being an educator is one of the most important jobs in the country, and they need more than just our thanks. A pay rise for educators is not just good for these workers; it also helps to attract more workers to a sector that is crying out for skilled staff. This means more children will get the quality early learning they need, and more parents, especially women, will have the opportunity to engage in the workforce. So, while this is good for workers, it's also good for children, good for parents and good for Australia's economic productivity.

Sadly, while Mr Dutton and those opposite agree, through gritted teeth, that paying high wages for educators is a good thing, at the same time they're trying to paint it as inflationary. The fact is: they have never valued or fought for Australian workers, and they have certainly never valued early childhood education either. Those opposite, in government, described government support for early childhood education as 'a money pit', 'communism' and 'the hand of government reaching in and taking away our children's youth'. That goes a long way towards explaining why, under the previous government, childcare fees went up by 41 per cent. It also explains why early childhood educators were the first workers in Australia to lose JobKeeper support during the COVID pandemic.

Last year we made child care cheaper, to help ease the cost of living for families. As I have said, I'm delighted that the Albanese Labor government is funding a 15 per cent pay rise for over 200,000 early childhood educators, because that directly benefits one million Australian families.

I cannot thank those working in the early childhood education sector enough for what they do. Their being properly valued and fairly paid is well overdue. Only this morning I had a delegation of United Workers Union early childhood educators come to see me and tell me how thankful they are for the pay rise. But my response to them was: 'We are thankful to you. We are thankful to you for continuing to do the job.' As I said, it's been nearly 40 years since I started on this cause, and it has taken 40 years to get any change.