Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I take the opportunity to shine a spotlight on a much-loved Kempsey institution, Kempsey Children's Services. The fantastic, community led early education service recently celebrated their 60th anniversary, and it's not hard to understand why they have been so successful for so long. I went there some 50 years ago, and, while some things have changed, the core of their model has remained the same. They truly put the community first. They treat their children, the parents and their wonderful staff with an exemplary level of care and respect. While centres across the country are struggling to find and retain staff, leading to available childcare places becoming limited despite a centre's true potential capacity, KCS has bucked that trend. We need more childcare providers like KCS in the regions. With the ever-increasing pressures on the cost of living, the urgent need for both parents to actively earn income has never been greater. We, as government representatives, must highlight successful organisations like Kempsey Children's Services, actively support their growth however we can and learn from their success. We must create policies that foster the growth of not only individual centres but the sector as a whole. I'm proud to have a gold-class centre like KCS in my electorate, and I look forward to another 60 successful years in our community.