Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The 2020-21 budget is focused on delivering the essential services that Australians rely on, including record funding for childcare, preschool and our education and university sectors. This investment means more opportunities and better outcomes for students across my electorate of Robertson. The Morrison government is providing $9.2 billion in funding for childcare this financial year, and our new child-care package represents one of the most significant reforms to the early childhood education and care system in 40 years. Around one million Australian families are benefitting from this package, with over 70 per cent of parents to pay no more than $5 per hour in day care centres.

It's crucial that working parents across Australia have confidence that, if they choose to go back to work, their children will be supported with high-quality, affordable child care. This includes parents like Ross, a Central Coast resident with two children who have both been through child care. Ross said that the government's support for the sector was the difference between his wife returning to work or staying at home with the children. He said that it offered flexibility and enabled her to re-engage in the workforce.

The government also provided $1.9 billion to the early childhood education and care sector throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring providers were able to continue to operate and support essential workers and families with vulnerable children. Leah, from St John the Baptist Early Learning Centre in Woy Woy, said that the government's support for the sector was a lifeline, ensuring that her centre remained open and staff were able to continue to care for and support local families.

The government's commitment to deliver world-class education is not just limited to child care; it extends to record funding for schools and significant support for higher education. I note that the Morrison government is providing a total investment of $314.7 billion into schools between 2018 and 2029. This includes substantial needs based funding for government, Catholic and independent schools, designed to get the best results for students, parents and teachers.

Our university sector will also benefit from this budget with investment of over $18 billion in 2020, increasing to around $20 billion in 2024 under our Job-ready Graduates Package. This package will create up to 30,000 new Commonwealth supported places in 2021 and 100,000 by 2030, assisting graduates in areas such as teaching, nursing, health, agriculture, STEM and IT. Many people know this is an issue particularly important to my electorate on the Central Coast and very dear to my heart.

The government will also spend over $400 million over the next four years to increase opportunities for regional and remote students to attend university. Investment in world-class education through Commonwealth supported places, especially in regional areas, opens doors for students to allow them to pursue their dreams. In my electorate of Robertson the government committed $3.3 million in 2018 for additional funding for student places at the Central Coast Clinical School and Research Institute. This funding delivers around 150 Commonwealth subsidised places that will support allied health students, bringing the total number of student places to around 550. This means that students who are completing the HSC right now could study a medical degree in Gosford.

I've recently been contacted by a number of local parents who are thrilled about the opportunity for their child to be able to study medicine and other health degrees locally right where they live, meaning they no longer have to travel to university in Sydney or Newcastle. This not only means reduced travel times but more opportunities for students to pursue local study on the Central Coast, the very best region in the very best country in the world.

The government is also providing $252 million in 2021 for an additional 50,000 short course places and the largest single annual investment in higher education research, including an additional $1 billion to support research at local universities. This investment is important to ensuring Australia remains at the forefront of global research and development.

The Morrison government recognises the importance of education to our future generations, and that's why I believe that this budget provides record funding for our childcare, education, and university sectors, ensuring they continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic and grow into the future. I want to commend the Minister for Education on the work that he has done, and continues to do, in this sector. In closing, I would ask the minister to further outline to the Chamber the government's investment in Commonwealth supported places.

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