Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to speak today on the member for Moncrieff's motion firstly as the member for Swan but also as a mother of two children under the age of five. Like many Australian families, my husband and I work. We do our best to share the parenting duties and spend quality time with our children while balancing both of us having successful careers. With my new role as the member for Swan, there have been some challenges around being a fly-in fly-out parent. I'm very lucky to have an onsite early childhood education centre here at Parliament House. I would like to acknowledge the great work that the educators do here at Capital Hill Early Childhood Centre and all the work that early childhood educators do across Australia. For me, early childhood education is a matter that's very close to my heart.

When deciding on where their child should go, a parent has so many parameters to consider: when their child should start; the size of the waitlist; the proximity of the childcare centre to home or work; the skill level of educators; the physical surrounds and vibes; how many days their children need care; and, of course, the fees. For me, deciding on where my children would go to child care was one of the most emotional decisions I've had to make as a parent. I wanted to make sure that my children were in a place of love, learning and care and one that I could actually afford while returning to a demanding job.

The member for Moncrieff talks of reforms that the previous government started in 2018. Well, my son started early childhood education in 2019, and I can say from personal experience that the reforms did not go far enough. I know that other mother groups across my electorate and in my state would concur. There are over 11,000 children that are aged under four in the electorate of Swan. These children belong to more than 7,600 families like mine, who strive to give their children the best start to their life. What we know is that childcare costs have gone up by 41 per cent over the last eight years, which was during the coalition's reign. Nationally, 73,000 people who wanted to work did not look for work because of the rising cost of early childhood education. So while I appreciate that the member for Moncrieff wants to note that the previous government tried to improve early childhood education, there shouldn't be a commendation for these efforts, because the numbers did not stack up—not for me as a parent, nor for those in my community. Early childhood education policy under the previous government simply was not good enough.

Under Labor's policy, 6,900 families—that's 90 per cent of families—in Swan will be better off. A family with a combined income of $120,000 will save $1,780 in the first year of our policy. And we got to work doing this in our first budget. We spoke to communities, listened and passed the cheaper child care act. We're not rushing this process, but we are acting quickly and working with providers and implementing changes to the childcare subsidy scheme. I know that the member for Moncrieff would have liked it to have been done earlier, but the truth is that the coalition had nine years of government where we saw childcare fees skyrocket while they racked up a national debt of almost a trillion dollars. They were elected in 2013 and took five long years to implement some reforms which simply did not go far enough. Meanwhile, the federal Labor government sees this as a targeted cost-of-living measure which is good for children, good for parents and good for the economy. When these changes are implemented, 90 per cent of families across Australia will get access to a greater childcare subsidy rate. The maths of this bill is simple, and this will go to families that work, study or are volunteering within their community. I thank the member for Moncrieff for allowing me and my colleagues the opportunity to share why Australians are better off under Labor's childhood education policy, and I look forward to seeing our proposed changes rolled out in July 2023.

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