Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Assistant Minister for Education, Susan Ley, loves Darwin almost as much as I love Darwin. She has visited my electorate of Solomon many times to canvass the views of stakeholders in her portfolio. Last month, I had the privilege of again hosting the assistant minister in my electorate. We held a successful childcare roundtable. I would like to thank the following stakeholders for coming along and sharing their thoughts on how we can improve early learning opportunities for Australian families, particularly in my electorate of Solomon. The people who attended were: Betty McKinlay from the Karama Child Care Centre; Louise De Bomford-Scott from La Creche on The Avenue; Kelly Monos from Murraya Children's Centre; Ferdous Mitchell, who is a good friend of mine, from Rising Stars in Rosebery; Brenna Schroeder from Nakara after school care; Laura Mulready from Dripstone Children's Centre; Natalie Rossiter-Rachor from Dripstone Children's Centre; Principal Anthony Hockey from St Paul's Catholic Primary School; Letitia McDonald from the Stuart Park Child Care Centre; and Tamie Needham from the Stuart Park Child Care Centre.

At this roundtable, we discussed many issues particularly unique to the Top End in the childcare sector, from staffing and qualification issues to overpopulation and waiting lists. During the assistant minister's visit, we also visited Marrara Christian College where we were able to meet with some students and to hear firsthand about the success of some of the programs they have been running. We also had the pleasure of visiting Murraya Children's Centre, where Kelly Monos was proud to show us around her childcare centre and show us the great work they are doing in caring for our young children in the Top End.

I would like to put on the record that I think Assistant Minister Ley is doing a fantastic job in leading the Productivity Commission's review of child care in Australia. Stakeholders in my electorate told me that they were very grateful to have the opportunity to once again speak firsthand and very candidly to the assistant minister to raise concerns around childcare issues, particularly in the Territory. Territorians know that we are unique to the rest of Australia. We have a lot of shift workers and a lot of young families, often with little or no extended family in the region. This leads to an increased reliance on childcare providers. As the member for Solomon, I will continue to work hard to make this a priority. The Top End is fortunate to have a minister responsible for child care who is so interested in providing a flexible and affordable childcare system that will suit our unique and differing family units in Darwin and Palmerston. (Time expired)