Julian Leeser MP
Shadow Minister for Education
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians
Federal Member for Berowra
Senator Matt O’Sullivan
Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare and Early Learning
Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence
Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
The Coalition welcomes the certainty provided today by the Albanese Government to families, educators and childcare providers by extending the Worker Retention Payment. However, the funding is a short-term solution, which creates further work for childcare centres and doesn’t deliver the long-term planning expected by the sector.
The Coalition also welcomes the inclusion of family day care and in-home care services, which were excluded from previous arrangements despite providing important childcare options for Australian families.
However, today’s announcement is further evidence that Labor has abandoned any pretence of delivering cheaper childcare.
Since Labor came to office, childcare fees have increased by around 27 per cent, with families now paying around $36,000 a year for a full-time childcare place before subsidies are applied.
Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare and Early Learning, Senator Matt O’Sullivan, said the announcement demonstrated the Government’s lack of a long-term plan for the sector.
“Anthony Albanese promised Australian families cheaper childcare. Instead, families have been hit with higher fees, higher inflation and more uncertainty,” Senator O’Sullivan said.
“Today’s announcement is a $3.6 billion admission that Labor’s childcare policy is reactive, not strategic. This Government is making it up as it goes along.”
“We welcome the short–term certainty this provides for families, educators and providers, but it does not address the long-term challenges facing the sector, nor does it make childcare cheaper under Anthony Albanese.”
Shadow Education Minister Julian Leeser said the announcement raised serious questions about Labor’s ability to manage the budget and the economy.
“This is all about Labor’s inability to manage money. Labor has created a situation where every taxpayer is now funding subsidies for parents to send their children to a childcare centre, subsidies for those centres to employ staff and even subsidies for new childcare buildings in capital cities. And costs for families are skyrocketing anyway. That is the cost of Labor’s economic incompetence.”
“We need a better way forward that puts children and their families at the centre of our policies.“
Senator O’Sullivan said the Coalition would carefully scrutinise the details of the package, including the operation of fee caps and regulatory requirements placed on providers.
“The Department’s own data suggests the fee cap arrangements are not working as intended, while smaller providers continue to struggle with the additional red tape associated with these payments,” Senator O’Sullivan said.
Under Angus Taylor’s leadership, the Coalition has appointed a Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare because Australian families deserve genuine choice, flexibility and access to care that suits their circumstances, not a one-size-fits-all system designed in Canberra.
[ENDS]