Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have the privilege in this parliament to represent an electorate with the highest numbers of young families. The 2016 census tells us that 23,000-plus families with children under the age of 15 live in our community. This number has no doubt grown with over 100 babies born a week in Wyndham and local health group, IPC, projecting that the Wyndham population has just crossed over 300,000 people.

With this phenomenal growth and so many families with young children, it's not surprising child care is vital to the people of our community. Recent data shows that our community has over 19,000 children in a form of child care. That is, long-day care or out-of-school hours care. The next highest community in the country has 13,000 children. We have the highest number of families in child care and the most childcare services. It is vital for this young community, but for many it remains unaffordable.

Fees have risen 37.2 per cent across the nation since the Liberals were elected in 2013. There was a three per cent rise in Wyndham in the last year. It's unaffordable and it's unsustainable. That's why I am so proud of Labor's childcare plan. Only Labor has a real plan to tackle skyrocketing out-of-pocket childcare costs and keep them down for good. An Albanese Labor government will cut childcare fees and put more money into the pockets of working families immediately. Labor's plan will make child care more affordable for 79 per cent of families in the system, four times as many as the Morrison government's plan. While I'm on the topic of young people, I want to share two stories I've heard about local children in my community.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the amazing Sue Tantaro, an inspirational and loving grandmother who is campaigning for Australia to allow a clinical trial for gene therapy as a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a condition three of her grandsons were born to have. She wanted to come and talk to me about her grandsons and the need for the clinical trial. A few days prior to the meeting, Sue rang to tell me the deeply sad news that her beautiful grandson Lukas had unexpectedly passed away. But this determined grandmother, with incredible grief overwhelming in her heart, didn't cancel the meeting because it's so important to her and for boys all over our country like her grandchildren. She used her grief as inspiration to get these trials started. Sue: you are a remarkable grandmother, and I am proud to represent you in this parliament tonight. I promise to assist you in any way I can to help you make life better for Anthony and Jakob and boys like them across the nation.

I also want to speak tonight about a four-year-old citizen of our nation whose parents are currently living in my community. He is just one victim of the government's neglect in their responsibility on quarantine. He is stuck in India at the moment. He is four years old. He's living with his ageing grandparents in Rajasthan. He misses his mum and dad. It's unimaginable how much they miss him. His father, Harjinder, met with me last week to explain the situation. Harjinder has lived in Australia for 15 years. He's a tiler by trade. He worked on mines in Mackay and now he drives a truck in Melbourne. He's paid his taxes like everyone else. But, when he needs the support of the government that others have had during this pandemic, the Morrison government has failed him. Harjinder even applied last week for an exemption to travel to India to go and get his son and bring him home. That exemption was denied, because it didn't meet compassionate and compelling criteria in the guidelines for exemptions.

How are we going to get this four-year-old home, Australia, if his father can't fly to meet him at the airport, get on a plane and bring him home? It's just one story about the effect of the ban on Australians returning from India that's happening in my electorate, but a very compelling one. This little boy needs to go to kindergarten. His mum and dad are worried that he's not going to be back to start school next year. This government needs to get involved in people's lives. They need to open their ears and listen to the harm they're causing and get to work. (Time expired)