Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The early years are the most important in a child's development. That is why in 2008 Labor worked with states and territories around Australia to ensure that all Australian children had 15 hours a week of kinder in the year before they started primary school. This program is now under threat. The 15- hours program has been incredibly successful, with 56 per cent of Australian children now receiving 15 hours of preschool education compared to just 12 per cent in 2006.

Research shows that children who attend 15 hours of preschool have higher scores in grade 3 NAPLAN tests and in grade 4 maths, science and languages. The effects of high-quality preschool education are long-lasting. We know that whatever we spend in high-quality preschool education we make back in higher year 12 graduation rates, lower rates of welfare dependency and higher taxes. Despite this compelling research, the Abbott government is threatening to cut 15 hours of kinder next year, plunging local communities into uncertainty.

The decision is appalling public policy. Right around the world governments are making once-in-a-generation investments in early childhood while this government takes an austerity approach to helping four-year-old Australians get the best start in life. And don't forget this is combined with a billion dollars in cuts to child care. What is just as bad as the decision itself is the uncertainty in which it has placed kinders around the country. Kinders in my electorate and around Victoria embrace the 15-hour reform. They have put on new staff. Some of them even built new rooms. They changed their timetables. Now kinder committees want to advertise for 2015 and fill their spots but they do not know how many places they can offer. They do not even know how many staff they will need next year. It is no way to run a program.

I recently consulted with kinders in my electorate about what the cut would mean for them and the feedback was very alarming. One kindergarten in my electorate told me it would need to reduce hours and potentially cut four staff if the Abbott government proceeded with the cut. This kindy has built additional rooms. It has employed additional staff to accommodate 15 hours per week. It services one of the most diverse and low income parts of my electorate. At least half of the students arrive at that kindergarten as three or four-year-olds without speaking any English. Two-thirds of its students have a healthcare card.

Kindy committees and teachers have explained to me the very important role they play not just in educating the students but in helping the families that become part of their communities to be the strongest parents that they can be. The work that they do is important and it is incredibly meaningful. That is why I call on the Abbott government to end this uncertainty and commit to 15 hours of kinder each week for our four-year-olds. It is not good enough for the minister to blame the so-called budget emergency when at the very same time $50,000 is being given to women around the country who are having a baby. I will continue to fight for 15 hours of kinder not just for children and families but for our nation as a whole. (Time expired)