TRANSCRIPT
A new pledge by the Labor party promises to lift some of the cost-of-living weight off low-to-middle income families.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made the announcement from Brisbane.
"Under a re-elected Labor government, every family earning up to $530,000 will have access to the childcare subsidy for three days a week, guaranteed. A three-day guarantee will ensure every family can afford three days of high-quality early education. Three days of early education, affordable for every family, funded for every child, building a better education system every step of the way."
The expansion of the childcare subsidy is set to put the government back around $27 million.
The move would replace an activity test requirement set by the Coalition government for families to access the subsidy.
Mr Albanese says these potential changes would provide a clear option for families in the next election.
"Only Labor drives these big reforms and only Labor builds for the future. That's the opportunity and the choice for all Australians in 2025. Over the next three years we can work together to build on the foundations we have laid. We can turn the meaningful progress we've made into profound and enduring change."
The Prime Minister has also committed to the provision of a one billion-dollar boost into early education services, if Labor is re-elected.
The funding would see the further development and expansion of childcare centres in rural and remote areas across the country.
Mr Albanese says it is the most significant commitment towards families.
"This is the single biggest investment by an Australian government ever in new childcare services. Starting with building or expanding over 160 early education and care centres where they are needed most. And not just signing off on the plans and walking away - we're ready to invest in owning these centres to keep the doors of opportunity open for children in these communities.”
Labor says an extra 66,000 families on lower incomes would get access to childcare by scrapping the so-called activity test.
It's a complex web that scales childcare support, based on how much parents work or study.
Parents, such as Shannon Butler, who currently works in a part-time role, say it has left them in a difficult situation.
"So I'm a casual worker and I work part-time and I usually work just enough hours that my kids can get the childcare subsidy for those three days a week. And the challenge for us is if they're sick and I have to take that time off, I often don't end up meeting those hours, so that would be a really good way then for us to not have to worry about that."
However Labor's opponents have been critical of the announcements, saying they don't really help struggling parents.
Greens leader Adam Bandt says this isn't the news that families were hoping to hear.
"A lot of parents, they'll be pretty disappointed by these announcements today. People hoped that there would be some fundamental changes to our childcare and early childhood education system so that parents could afford it and get it when they need it. But that's not what Labor has delivered. As a result of these announcements from Labor today, it won't mean much for many working parents. Full-time working parents see basically no change at all as a result of this and I think people were hoping for a lot more."
The Opposition's treasury spokesman, Angus Taylor, had a similar opinion, claiming the changes do nothing to provide families with greater access to early education.
"There's nothing in this announcement that makes childcare more accessible and more affordable for hard-working families. In fact, the risk is, it'll make the situation worse. We've got supply constraints in this sector that haven't been solved, any young family who's looking to get into childcare now knows just how hard it is to find the childcare that they want, and Labor thinks the answer is to put more demand into the system."
The announcement supports the recommendations of the Productivity Commission and is considered a significant step towards the Prime Minister's stated goal of universal childcare.
It's a policy he hopes will create a legacy like other Labor policies such as Medicare, superannuation and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
But while it's being sold as cost of living relief, there's a budget-boosting aspect as well.
Dr Angela Jackson is the lead economist at Impact Economics and Policy.
"Education is productivity. We don't lift the future productive capacity of our economy if we don't invest in education and in our human capital. And we know that the first five years of life are absolutely critical and this is where we should be investing."
