Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There were some fine words from Senator McLachlan that I can certainly get behind.

There is no question about it—our childcare system is broken in this country. While Labor talks big on child care, children are slipping through the cracks including in regional, rural and remote areas of the country. New research by Victoria University this week found that nearly a quarter of Australia's population lives in childcare deserts. That's 700,000 Australians who have no access to early childhood education and care simply because of where they live. In these childcare deserts, there are more than three children per childcare place. The kids who are not fortunate enough to secure a place miss out on an early education, or their parents miss out on important paid work.

Access to child care shouldn't be subject to a postcode lottery. The Greens have consistently said that early learning is a fundamental right and should be treated like primary and secondary school—free, universal and of high quality. As long as Labor refuses to accept this truth and as long as Labor continues to rely on profit-driven providers to fill childcare demand, childcare deserts will remain a shameful reality.

Child care shortages are being further compounded by a workforce that is leaving in droves. Early childhood educators are underpaid and simply cannot afford to stay, and who could blame them?

Every community needs educators, but, until the government agrees to the 25 per cent pay increase that educators have been calling for, we'll continue to see a dwindling workforce. Those in this workforce are overwhelmingly women and they continue to take home less than two-thirds of the average weekly adult wage. Can you fathom that, for a full-time childcare worker, it would take 31 years to save for a home deposit? It's outrageous!

The combined effect of low wages and unaffordable housing only exacerbates the issue of childcare deserts in Australia. We've known for decades that our childcare system in this country is broken and requires urgent repair. The latest research confirms this, and it is a call to action to the Labor Party, to stop letting our kids fall through the cracks. Labor needs to properly fund and regulate the childcare sector. It needs to make child care free and universal. And it needs to pay our educators what they deserve.

For decades, mega offshore oil and gas corporations have been making huge profits, at the expense of Australia's climate, oceans and communities. They've been allowed to drill, dig up and destroy our coastlines to lay down tonnes of infrastructure for their polluting profits; yet they have never paid a single cent to ensure the clean-up and removal of this infrastructure. This is outrageous, and it's yet another example of big polluting corporations plundering our oceans and laughing all the way to their shareholder meetings.

This week, the Wilderness Society, along with five other environment groups, released a damning statement of concern on the failing regulation of offshore oil and gas industry clean-up in Australia. Offshore oil and gas structures are beginning to reach the end of their lifespan, falling into disrepair and disuse. Despite legislation requiring fossil fuel corporations to completely remove all defunct infrastructure, the Wilderness Society has pointed out that the industry is systematically failing to deliver on their clean-up responsibilities. With no bond to fall back on, taxpayers risk footing this bill—a bill that is estimated to cost more than $60 billion.

One of the biggest clean-up challenges ahead is off the coast of Gippsland in the beautiful waters of the Bass Strait. After 50 years of operations, ExxonMobil is planning to decommission its non-operational facilities. These facilities are filled with asbestos, radioactive waste materials and other chemicals toxic to marine life. Despite calls from environmental groups to completely remove infrastructure, ExxonMobil is attempting to shirk responsibility by leaving lower sections of rig in the ocean. This poses enormous risks to the beautiful marine life of Gippsland, including the endangered pygmy blue whale. Let's be clear: instead of paying to clean up their dirty mess, ExxonMobil is paying spin doctors to paint their lazy plan and environmental negligence as positive for the ecosystem in the ocean.

Well, guess what? The Greens, environmental groups and Gippsland's residents are not buying it. We urgently need stronger laws to ensure that megacorporations like ExxonMobil take full responsibility for their toxic mess and that our precious marine life is protected. For the sake of our oceans, marine life, traditional owners and coastal communities, Labor must urgently fix our inadequate environmental laws and make big oil and gas clean up their dirty mess.