This week, as students and teachers here in Queensland and around the country count down to the holidays, and families look forward to Christmas we also look back on the year that’s been and the challenges that we’ve faced.
I want every Australian to know that I understand things have been hard.
I want every Australian to know that when times are tough, we’ve got your back.
Our Government is working every day to make next year easier for you and your family.
To put the worst of global inflation behind us - and to put the last of the Liberals’ mess behind us too.
The cuts and neglect that left Australia wide open to global uncertainty.
If you think back to the strain that the pandemic and its aftermath put on our health system - that came on top of Peter Dutton’s cuts to hospitals and Medicare.
Problems with global supply chains were compounded by a decade of hollowing-out skills and driving manufacturing offshore.
The biggest international energy crisis in 50 years was magnified by a decade of denial on climate change and renewable energy.
And the surge in global inflation hit family budgets harder because the Liberals spent a decade deliberately keeping wages low.
My colleagues and I have spent the last two and half years working to turn this around.
We’ve tripled the funding for bulk-billing and opened 84 new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, which has helped millions more Australians see a doctor for free.
We are rebuilding skills and manufacturing through Free TAFE and our investments in a Future Made in Australia.
We’ve delivered energy bill relief for every household and every small business.
And we’ve locked-in more new energy in the last two years, than the previous Government built in a decade.
And much more new energy than Peter Dutton’s nuclear power scheme would deliver – ever.
We’ve backed three consecutive increases in award wages for 2.6 million workers.
We’ve funded significant pay rises for aged care workers – and our early educators.
We’ve brought the gender pay gap down to a record low.
And we’ve got real wages growing again – four consecutive quarters of growth.
We’re helping Australians to earn more - and to keep more of what they earn.
Because our Government has delivered a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer.
All 13.6 million, not just some.
We are boosting rent assistance, backing the dream of home ownership – and building more homes in every state and territory.
We’re taking action on the cost of living – and we are getting inflation back to where it should be.
When we came to Government inflation had a 6 in front of it and was rising.
Today it has a 2 in front of it – and it’s falling.
Over one million new jobs have been created.
And we’ve delivered not one but two budget surpluses, for the first time in nearly two decades.
We’re helping people under pressure here and now.
We’re cleaning up the mess of the past decade.
And we are laying the foundations for an economy that is stronger and fairer.
Indeed an economy that is stronger because it is fairer.
Where people are rewarded for their hard work, and we invest in their potential and nourish their aspirations.
Where Australians have the security to plan for their future, save for a home and build a good life for themselves and their families.
An economy connected to the growth and opportunities of Asia - where we make things here in Australia.
An economy where we compete for new industries and succeed with new technologies by building on our oldest and greatest strength – the skills and capacity of the Australian people.
Our Labor Government understands that in every part of this, every stage of education is vital.
We know that many of the jobs of the future will need either a TAFE qualification or a university degree.
That’s why, in our first term, we’ve put public TAFE back at the centre of vocational education and training.
This has helped a half million Australians train for their first job, or re-train for a new opportunity – for free.
In our next term, we will lock in Free TAFE and make it permanent, nationwide.
In our first term, we fixed the unfair spike in student debt for 3 million Australians.
In our next term, we will cut 20 per cent off the student debt of every Australian who has one.
And we’ll make the repayment system fairer for everyone with a student loan now and into the future.
In our first term, we’ve brought down the cost of child care for over 1 million families.
And we are boosting the wages of up to 200,000 early educators by 15 per cent.
Today is about where we go next - our Government’s vision for the future of early education.
We know that making early education and care affordable for families delivers real help with the cost-of-living every week.
It gives working parents more choice and more flexibility.
More opportunities to balance their caring responsibilities with career opportunities.
It helps businesses hold on to valued and experienced employees.
And in doing so, it boosts productivity and participation across our entire economy.
So, even if there were no other benefits - making child care more affordable is good for families and good for the economy.
But all of us know there’s more to it. Much, much more.
There are more than one million reasons to invest in early education.
Some of whom are here with us today.
Because early education makes the biggest difference for our littlest Australians.
Every expert tells us how significant those first five years of life are for brain development.
And every parent knows children at that age are growing and changing and taking it all in, every day.
Early education introduces children to letters and numbers - it also teaches them about listening and co-operating, taking turns and making friends.
It gets them ready for the routines and rhythms of school.
Above all it shows them that learning is something to enjoy and embrace.
It encourages them to give art and science and music and sport a go.
And our Government wants these opportunities and these benefits to be open to every child.
Friends
A Labor Government created universal Medicare because we believe that every Australian has the right to quality, affordable health care.
A Labor Government created universal superannuation because every working Australian has the right to dignity and security in retirement.
A Labor Government created the National Disability Insurance Scheme because every Australian with disability has the right to choice and control.
And our Labor Government believes every child should have the right to quality, affordable early education.
That’s why we want to build a universal child care system.
Simple, affordable and accessible, for every family.
Where every child is guaranteed access to at least three days of high-quality early education and care.
Let me be clear: universal and accessible doesn’t mean compulsory or mandatory.
The choice will be up to parents, as always, as it should be.
But we want families to have a real choice.
We want to make sure that your decision isn’t dictated by where you live, or what you do for a living.
It’s driven by one thing only, what you want for your child.
This is the future we are working to build – and over the past two and a half years, we’ve been putting the foundations in place.
The single biggest policy commitment we took to the last election was our plan for Cheaper Child Care.
This investment has cut the cost of child care for over 1 million Australian families.
With the average family saving over $4,400.
And at the same time, the number of children enrolled in early education has grown by nearly 100,000.
The coming Budget update will show Commonwealth funding for child care subsidies is increasing by $3.1 billion over the next four years - to support an extra 200,000 children to receive early education.
Alongside this, 34,000 more early educators have joined the workforce.
With another 125,000 in training – including in Free TAFE, across the nation.
We are training more early educators and we’re paying early educators more.
At the end of last month, we legislated a 15 per cent pay increase for early educators.
Ten per cent from this month.
And another five per cent on top, next year.
For someone earning the award rate, that’s an increase of over $100 a week right now – and increasing to $150 a week next year.
And we’ve tied these pay rises, to caps on fee growth, so we’re getting wages up for workers while keeping costs down for families.
This pay increase is a tribute to the tireless advocacy of workers
It’s also a statement of our Labor Government’s values.
It’s our message to all those early educators going about their work today and every day with such devotion and patience.
Who bring joy and discovery into the lives of our children.
What you do matters to our nation – your work lifts up two generations of Australians at the same time.
For all this, you deserve much more than just our thanks and praise.
You deserve this pay rise. Every dollar of it.
Boosting the wages of early educators is about rewarding workers, it’s about retaining workers – and it’s about recruiting new workers.
One of the privileges of this job is visiting child care centres all over the country.
I hear from educators saying they can keep doing a job they love.
I hear from employers saying that the number of job applications is going up.
But you know what we hear from the Liberal and National Parties?
They said this was ‘dodgy’. Peter Dutton mocked it as a ‘sugar hit’.
And a Queensland Senator that he personally endorsed as someone who is not afraid ‘to defend the values of the LNP' said that this had something to do with a ‘woke mind virus’ because ‘early education destroys the family unit’.
Another day and another issue where the Liberals are not just stuck in the past, they want the rest of Australia to go back there just to keep them company.
We’re building up the wages and skills of the workforce.
And today, we’re taking the next big step – building more child care centres.
There are simply not enough child care centres in the regions or in outer suburbs that are growing fast.
Too often, that’s because large corporate providers don’t see an opportunity for profit in these places.
This means children in these communities are left behind and families are left with no option.
Early education isn’t about making money - it’s about changing lives.
And child care isn’t a luxury – it’s an essential service for modern families.
When the market fails, Government should step up and act.
That’s what we are going to do.
Today I announce that our Government is establishing a $1 billion Building Early Education Fund.
The single biggest investment by an Australian Government ever in new child care 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 are ready to invest in owning these centres, to keep the doors of opportunity open for children in these communities - and to support high-quality, not-for-profit providers.
Building centres means we can work together with state and local government, philanthropic organisations and communities themselves.
Meaning we can bring a whole range of related and important services under the same roof - child care, maternal and child health, early learning.
Our Government wants to see more centres built in the regions and the suburbs – and more centres at local schools.
Because schools already have that connection to community, the convenience for families and that security and safety for children.
So we’ll look at schools that have space we can use and we’ll work with states and territories when they build new schools to make early education part of the plan, from day one.
Centres on school grounds build a link between early education and primary education.
They give children a sense of confidence and connection with their local school.
And they make life easier for parents doing drop-off and pick-up.
Better for children, better for parents, better for communities.
Building more early education and care centres and creating more places is about breaking down barriers of distance.
We also need to break down barriers the Liberal Government deliberately built.
Starting with the Activity Test.
The only thing this does is put extra weight on the shoulders of parents who are already doing the hard yards of looking for work while locking their children out of early education.
Denying them those learning skills and social skills that get you ready for school.
Too often, the children missing out on early education are the ones for whom it would make the biggest difference.
I know this for certain: parents do not need to go though a bureaucracy or work a certain number of hours, to want the best possible education for their child.
The aspiration to give your children the best chance in life drives every parent - whoever you are and wherever you live.
The Liberals might treat early education like a luxury parents have to prove they need.
We know early education is an opportunity every child deserves.
For the whole of the 20th Century, it’s been understood that every child has the right to go to school - and government has a responsibility to make that possible.
In the 21st Century, every child has the right to go to early education, to help get them ready for school - and our Labor Government is going to make this possible.
Today I announce we will replace the Liberals’ Activity Test with a new Three Day Guarantee in early education.
Under a re-elected Labor Government, every family earning up to $530,000 will have access to the child care subsidy for three days a week - guaranteed.
Our 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.
These are the building blocks of a world-class universal early education system:
Getting fees down for families and wages up for workers
More places for children.
More centres and services in our regions and suburbs.
And a new Three Day Guarantee in early education.
These are the next steps in a nation-defining journey.
This is work that can only be done through long term commitment and real investment.
It can only be done with a real change in the role Government plays – building more centres, backing more choice, stepping up when the market fails.
It can only be done with real change in the way we as a society think about early education and care – not just a boost for the economy, not just an essential for parents but also a life-changing opportunity for children.
And all this change, all this reform, all this investment, all this work of training and building for the future our children deserve can only be done, will only be done by our Labor Government.
Because only Labor does the big things, only Labor drives these big reforms, 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.
We can give the next generation of Australians the best possible start in life - ready for school and ready for all the opportunities the world holds for them.
We can seize this moment and shape our future – smarter, stronger, a world-leader in education from the early years right the way through.
Or we can watch as the Liberals and Nationals wreck it all.
Watch as they recklessly rip away the support families count on and cut the pay educators deserve.
Watch as they abolish the Free TAFE our workforce needs and leave the next generation to fall behind.
If you want to know what the next three years would like under the Liberals and Nationals – just look at their actions over the last three years.
Every Australian would have been worse off if Peter Dutton had blocked our tax cuts, cut people’s wages, stopped energy bill relief and made it harder and more expensive for people to see a doctor.
Child care and medicines would cost more, HECS debts would be higher, hundreds of thousands of people would have been denied free TAFE.
If Peter Dutton had his way, every Australian would have been worse off over the last three years and if he gets into government, every Australian will be worse off over the next three years.
Because you don’t grow the economy by cutting wages and education.
You don’t help families under pressure by pricing them out of child care.
You don’t set Australia up to compete and succeed, by holding children back or leaving them behind.
The Opposition have spent every day trying to stop us cleaning up their mess.
They are arrogant enough to think they got nothing wrong through their wasted decade in Government.
And they are reckless enough to inflict it on Australia all over again.
This is not a time for cutting and wrecking.
This is a time for building.
Building the education system that will drive our prosperity.
Building the workforce that will help our youngest Australians learn and grow.
Building the new child care centres that will bring the opportunity of early education to regions and suburbs that have been forgotten for too long.
Building an economy where our people have the capability to compete and succeed and the skills to make things here in Australia.
Building a nation where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind.
Building for the next generation.
Building for the best start in life.
Our Labor Government: Building Australia’s Future.