Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. How will the Albanese Labor government's plan for more affordable early childhood education and care alleviate pressure on families struggling with the cost of living?

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bennelong for his question and acknowledge his commitment to young families in the electorate of Bennelong, 9,400 of which will benefit from the legislation that we introduced to make early childhood education and care more affordable for 1.2 million families right across Australia, including 9,400 in Bennelong.

As the member knows, access to affordable early childhood education is great for our children. As the Prime Minister mentioned in his earlier answer—rightly so—90 per cent of a child's brain develops before the age of five. A vital part of a child's development is that access to good-quality early childhood education. But it's also a vital part of our economy—a very important part of our economy—because it's important for parents, particularly for women, who happen to be the primary caregivers most of the time, who are looking for opportunities in the workforce.

But, of course, even when women get those opportunities in the workforce there are barriers to them participating. Whether it's an opportunity for further study, to develop their careers or to take on more hours, there are structural barriers—and the cost of affordable early childhood education is one of those barriers. By making early childhood education more affordable, what we're actually doing is achieving substantive equality for women—something that those opposite voted against. They voted against substantive equality for women. That's because it's not just about providing opportunity but about creating the conditions under which women can undertake and take advantage of those opportunities by being able to go back to work, to take on extra study or to take on extra hours.

But, like the member for Bennelong and the members on this side of the House, I've also met with families in my own electorate of Cowan who would like to be able to go to work and would like to supplement their household income. This is particularly at a time when we know families and households are doing it tough. But they can't do it because of the competing pressures on the family budget. What our government, the Albanese Labor government, did within five months of being elected was to make early childhood education more affordable for 1.2 million families right across Australia. That's not just good for children and not just good for parents, particularly women who want to take advantage of those opportunities and achieve substantive equality, but it's also good for household budgets. That's because it means that parents can go out, earn more and alleviate those cost-of-living pressures that we're seeing at the moment.