Source: Prime Minister of Australia
CASSANDRA FERNANDO, MEMBER FOR HOLT: It’s great to be here at Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Hampton Park in the heart of my electorate. I’m honoured to be here today with the Prime Minister of Australia and Minister Clare and Minister Walsh. Holt is one of the youngest electorates in the country. It is where people come here to start their families, buy their first homes. It is a welcoming community. And by saying that, now I would like to welcome the Prime Minister to talk more about the announcement today.
< ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:
So, this decision today will make an enormous difference. On top of that, of course, every single worker here, like all 14 million workers around Australia will get a tax cut in just a couple of weeks’ time. This is about cost-of-living and dealing with practical issues in a real way that makes a real difference for families in this electorate and indeed families right around Australia. And I want to pay tribute to the incredible staff who work at centres like this, because what I see is people who are very passionate about what they do. They’re passionate about making a difference for our youngest Australians, making sure that they get the best start in life so that they can fulfil all of their potential. We know that in the first five years of life, over 90 per cent of brain development has already occurred. And that is why this is an investment in Australia’s future as well as investing in the workers here, but investing in the youngest Australians as well.
We’re going to hear from one of the staff members here, Elizabeth, and then we’ll hear from the ministers and then hear from the representatives of Goodstart and also of the United Workers Union, who look after the early education sector.
< ELIZABETH LA’FORGUE, EDUCATOR:
< JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION:
What happens here changes lives. And you wouldn’t know that from what people used to be paid. That’s why the changes that we made 18 months ago are so important, and that’s why cementing it in with what we’re doing here is so important. And to give you an idea about the impact that it’s had, the boss said a moment ago that this was a sector in crisis when we came to office. There are now 20,000 more people working in child care centres today than when we put this in place 18 months ago. The vacancy rate for staff in centres across the country has dropped by 31 per cent in 18 months. Now that tells you something, doesn’t it? It tells you that if you pay people more, more people want to do the job, and people who left the job that they loved because they couldn’t afford to keep doing it and went and got a job at Woolies or Bunnings are coming back. That means that our kids have got more full-time permanent staff to look after them, to educate them and to keep them safe. I think, Ros, the number of agency staff that you employ dropped by like 69 per cent.
< ROS BAXTER, GOODSTART CEO:
< MINISTER CLARE:
But just one more thing, a new condition that we’re adding today. And that is to say, if you want this funding for your staff, then you’ve got to make sure you meet the National Safety Standard. 95 per cent of centres meet that standard today. I want it to be 100 per cent. Parents watching today expect it to be 100 per cent. Our kids deserve for it to be 100 per cent. All of us were shocked and sickened by the revelations of the last 12 months. And I’ve been pretty blunt that not enough has been done to keep our kids safe by any government, Labor, Liberal, state, federal. That’s now changing with the banning of phones, with the national register, with the CCTV trial, with workforce training and now 99 per cent of staff have done that in the first couple of months. But now we take the next step and we say that if we’re giving you this funding, you’ve got to meet the National Safety Standard as well. And I reckon most mums and dads would say that’s just about right.
< JESS WALSH, MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION:
< ROS BAXTER:
I was in a really interesting position on the day that the first money for this wages subsidy hit our educators’ accounts. I was in one of our Goodstart centres here in Melbourne in Clarinda and I was in the break room. We were having a little morning tea in between having some visits. And the women in the break room started checking their phones because they had heard that the money was hitting their accounts that day, but I think they didn’t quite believe it until they saw it. And I’ve got to say, it was not just the educators who were having a cry in the break room that day. I think we all ended up in tears at this momentous moment for early learning.
Early learning matters. The first five years are a crucial window of opportunity in young lives. They are the foundation of young lives, but they are also the foundation of our economy and the productivity of our economy. And I’m super proud to be standing here today alongside a government and a Prime Minister that has backed that moment. So, thank you all for coming.
< JO SCHOFIELD, UNITED WORKERS UNION NATIONAL PRESIDENT:
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