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

I thank the member for Pearce—the best member for Pearce in this place since I've been here, that's for sure. She's my very dear friend and I thank her very much for her question. The 86,000 taxpayers in Pearce know that they have a truly strong voice for them here in parliament, somebody who fought for them to get their tax cuts.

Pearce residents will see an average of $1,618 back in their pockets because of Labor's tax cuts. That includes the wonderful educators at places like Goodstart Tapping and at the Lake Joondalup Early Learning Program, which the member for Pearce and I have visited now several times, up there in Wanneroo. Our tax cuts mean that those workers will keep more of their hard earned money. An early childhood educator earning $46,000 a year will get an $829 tax cut, and the average early childhood education teacher will receive $1,404 in tax cuts—money back in their pockets under this Labor government.

Eliza, who has a certificate III and is a qualified educator in Tasmania, is just starting out in her career, and she told me the timing of these cuts is ideal. She went on to say that, with rising costs, this additional money is going to have a real impact on her budget, and she says, 'It just takes the pressure off.' It just takes the pressure off. No matter if the person I'm talking to is someone who's been in the industry for 40 years, like Caro in Western Australia, or if they're just starting out, like Eliza in Tasmania, they always tell me just how important these tax cuts are for them. They mean food on the table, they mean petrol in the car, they mean they can pay their car insurance, they mean real cost-of-living relief—real money back into the pockets of hardworking Australians in feminised sectors like early childhood education.

In fact, as the Prime Minister said earlier, 90 per cent of women taxpayers will be better off under our tax plan. And we're getting wages moving again in low-paid female-dominated industries. I might add that those industries often employ high levels of migrant and culturally and linguistically diverse women. That's why the gender pay gap is at the lowest it's ever been. We supported two increases in modern awards, benefiting early childhood educators and carers.

When those opposite were last in government, keeping wages low was part of their architecture. There's no secret there. In contrast, we want Australians to earn more and keep more of their earnings, while those opposite want them to work harder for less. (Time expired)