Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am grateful to the member for Moncrieff for bringing on this very important debate. It's just a shame that she seems to be the only member on the benches opposite who cares about this issue. We didn't hear a word about child care during the federal election, and we didn't really hear a word about child care during the nine years the previous government was in office.

We know that many of the issues the member for Moncrieff spoke about—the rising cost of child care, the workforce shortages and the waiting lists—are issues of real concern, but they are issues that have been around for many years. In fact, under the watch of those opposite, childcare costs increased by 41 per cent. What was their action? What was their plan to reduce the cost of child care? Nothing.

We know that in 2021, 73,000 people who wanted to work didn't look for work, because of the prohibitive cost of early childhood education and the impact that had on household budgets. As the member for Moncrieff said, child care was eating into a significant portion of household budgets. People were having to decide between paying for child care and choosing to work extra days, or choosing to work at all. That was a difficult decision they had to make when those opposite were in power.

We also know that wages for early childhood educators stagnated. If people are considering a career in a particular industry, one of the main things they will ask is, 'What are the wages and conditions like in that industry?' Under those opposite, wages for early childhood educators flatlined; they stagnated. How do you attract someone to a profession when you do not give them a proper wage increase? That's what we saw for nine long years under those opposite.

With the Albanese Labor government, we've seen a real sense of purpose. In the very first budget, one of the signature pieces was around child care and making it more affordable for families. That goes to the heart of what we are trying to do as a government. We are getting more people in the workforce, particularly women—whilst there have been big gains when it comes to parenting and both parents stepping up, we know that it is often women who are left to bear the burden of caregiving. We're making it more affordable for families to send their kids to child care. This is an important measure that will help children, with all the rich learning that they experience in child care. It is also a good productivity step. Having more people in the workforce is good for our economy and good for productivity.

The then Leader of the Opposition knew that at the time. That is why he made child care a signature policy that he campaigned on, and now we have delivered it. This is a significant policy decision of more than $4 billion injected into the early education sector that will benefit 1.2 million families. It is the biggest increase the sector has seen in a number of years, and it will have a tangible benefit for so many families. It means that, yes, they will see relief in their household budgets, but also we know that more kids are able to pick up days at school.

I will finish by sharing an anecdote from my own son's experience at child care. He came home and told me that he knew about the solar system because he learnt about it at child care. We went through it together, and then he stopped before he got to Pluto. I reminded him that Pluto is a planet. He said 'No, Mummy, Pluto is not a planet.' And that is what child care does. It teaches kids things that even their parents have failed to learn.

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