Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my first speech to this chamber in 2019 I stood here and declared that I had come to stand up for the children of my state, to fight every day to ensure we saw a fundamental re-draw of the way we fund and deliver early childhood education and care in this country. Now, as a proud member of the Albanese Labor government and with the Malinauskas Labor government leading in South Australia, we are finally on this path.

The Albanese government has already committed to significant reforms for early education, including implementing an Early Years Strategy, reducing the costs of childcare and supporting the re-establishment of playgroups. At home, our state Labor government has just this week announced a change in preschool enrolment to allow for mid-year intakes. This means that children turning four between May and October can enrol in the second half of a school year and will no longer have to wait an additional six months to begin preschool, this vital start to school education in our state. Of course, this builds upon our state government's bold commitment towards three-year-old preschool—a vital step in extending the benefits of early learning to all children in our state, at the point in time when it will make such a great impact.

These sorts of policies change lives, they change outcomes and they change our nation fundamentally for the better. These sorts of policies—these reforms—only ever happen under Labor governments. That's why I am Labor. I've said it before, I'll say it again and I'll keep saying it until you all get sick of it: the first thousand days of a child's life form the building blocks for their future. Every child in Australia deserves access to a fantastic education in their early years, regardless of where their family lives, which postcode they're in and how much their family earns. As long as I have a seat in this chamber, I will never stop fighting for our children's rights to a quality education and for the incredible early learning educators who deliver it.