Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be agreeing to this amendment. Unlike the Greens party, it is a Labor government that is delivering the pay rise that early childhood educators and carers so very much deserve. This is something that many on the Labor side of the chamber, including Senator Walsh, have campaigned for for many years in collaboration with early childhood educators and carers. I've got multiple quotes I could read out from those workers talking about the difference that this pay rise, being delivered by a Labor government, will make to their lives.

Early educators undoubtedly do one of the most important jobs in our community, and this Labor government is making sure they are fairly paid for the work that they do. We'll be investing around $3.6 billion to support a 15 per cent wage increase for these workers over two years. It's a responsible wage increase deliberately designed in a responsible way to take pressure off childcare fees. Unlike some members of the Greens party, Labor senators spend time in early childhood education and care services working and talking with those workers and campaigning alongside them, and that is what has resulted in this very-well-deserved pay rise.