Rebecca White (Lyons, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the Albanese Labor government's commitment to early childhood education and, more specifically, what this commitment means for the families and communities in my electorate of Lyons. The Albanese Labor government believes that every child deserves access to the benefits of quality learning. The research and evidence are unequivocal: the early years are a vital time in a child's life and form the foundation for their physical, emotional, social, language and cognitive development. When we invest early, we set children up not just for school but for life.

That belief is being realised on the ground in communities like Saint Marys, Bothwell and Westbury. Each of these towns will benefit from Labor's investment in new childcare centres. I acknowledge the advocacy of Tanya Greenwood, Kristy Scott, Rebecca Scarr, Janet Drummond, the Break O'Day Council and many more for providing the strong local leadership that helped secure $4 million in federal funding to build a new early learning centre in Saint Marys. This new centre will be co-located with the St Marys District School, supporting transitions and strong collaboration between early learning and kindergarten to year 12. What began 10 years ago as an effort to create more opportunities for local children quickly revealed something deeper—that expanding childcare access would also strengthen local businesses and local services and benefit the wider community. From 2027, a new 24-place early learning service will be built on the St Marys site, providing families with greater access to quality local early education at lower costs, while children are given the best possible start.

I also want to turn to the community of Bothwell in the Central Highlands, where determination and grassroots advocacy have delivered an outcome that will make a real difference. Lisa, in Ouse, had to drive 144 kilometres every day to keep her son in temporary care in Brighton. That trip takes two hours each way. Another family in Bothwell described how child care would 'give us financial security and improve our family's mental health—it would allow me to get out of the house and to be a productive member of the community'.

Many families have to take their kids to work with them. Recently, a local mum spoke of the challenge of driving a tractor with a toddler and a baby in the cabin with her. In Bothwell, a highly motivated community group led by Susan Dabbs and Joanne Barwick worked tirelessly to highlight the childcare challenges that have been impacting their town for decades. With support from the Central Highlands Council, they launched a community survey and gathered data, and they posted it on social media, community noticeboards and in the school newsletter and illustrated the need. The findings were clear. There was a critical absence of long-day-care and childcare services in the region.

As a result of that work, from mid-2027, 20 places will be made available at a new purpose built childcare centre, co-located at the school site at Bothwell. This investment will transform families' lives and provide access to affordable and reliable child care close to home. This is what it's all about, and I'm proud to have been able to work with such strong advocates to deliver these outcomes for our communities.