Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Ciccone, for the supplementary. Like all of us on this side of the chamber, he knows early childhood educators deserve a pay rise. The Productivity Commission has made it clear: if we don't increase wages in the sector we won't have a workforce. Under the Albanese government's plan, an average worker receiving the award rate will get an extra $103 per week in pay by the end of the year, increasing to $155 extra by December 2025, a wage increase that will apply to workers in OSHC—outside of school hours care services—benefiting parents of school-aged children too.

Of course, we take a different view to the opposition. We don't believe we should keep wages low by design. Of course, we have Senator Rennick, who is on the record on these issues. When Labor announced these changes, he said 'paying early educators more was going to destroy the family unit'. Is this the coalition's policy?