THE HON JASON CLARE MP

Minister for Education

THE HON DR ANNE ALY MP

Minister for Early Childhood Education

Minister for Youth

MINISTER ANNE ALY: Good morning everyone. We are here at Goodstart in Garran with these beautiful children. I've got D'Angelo and Kyra here and of course, Minister Jason Clare. And we're here to talk about our 15 per cent wage rise for early childhood educators. Now, every single Australian, whether you're a parent, whether you're a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle. Whoever you are in Australia, you know exactly the important work that early childhood educators do. 

The Albanese Labor Government recognises this work, recognises the vital role they play in developing our youngest Australians in their wellbeing and in their developmental milestones. And that's why we agree that early childhood educators and early childhood workers deserve a fair wage. That's what we're delivering. It is a momentous day for early childhood educators and early childhood workers right across Australia. They've worked long and hard advocating for this pay rise and they're finally getting it because of the Albanese Labor Government. I'll pass on to Minister Jason Clare. 

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: G'day, everybody. The truth is that our early educators deserve a medal, and they also deserve a pay rise. And that's what we announced last week, a 15 per cent pay rise for early educators right across the country. We've already cut the cost of childcare for more than a million Australian families. And this is the next step.

The next step is making sure that we provide justice and some fairness for the people who make the magic happen at this centre and centres like this, right across the country. We've got about 30,000 more early educators today than we had two years ago. But the truth is, we need even more. If we're going to build a universal system where we can make sure that all children from zero to five have access to affordable early education, then we need more people to take up this – one of the most important jobs in the world. The sign on the door says it all: “Goodstart”. This isn't babysitting, this is early education. Everything that happens here in centres like this centre here helped to set our kids up for success, helped to make sure that they have a good start. 

And the fact that yesterday we saw this Liberal loon, Senator Gerard Rennick, saying that childcare was about destroying the family unit, should send a shiver down the spine of any Australian who's thinking about voting for the Liberal Party at the next election. 

When you hear words like that coming out of the mouth of a Liberal Senator, it makes you think that the modern Liberal Party thinks that mums with kids shouldn't work. And I call on Peter Dutton today to show some spine and to call this out. This is not what early education is about. Early education is about setting our kids up for success, making sure that our kids are ready to start school and succeed when they get there. And the fact that you've got a Liberal loon like Gerard Rennick off the leash, allowed to say stupid things like this, says it all about the weakness of Peter Dutton's leadership. 

This is about helping to build a better and a fairer education system for all Australians. And at the other end of the system, in universities, we're also taking big steps this week as well. This week I'll be introducing legislation to wipe $3 billion of student debt for more than 3 million Australians. Last year, we saw a big spike in inflation and with that, a big spike in student debt. And students and graduates across the country called it out and said it wasn't fair. And we agree. And that's why we're taking action to wipe this out and make sure that it never happens again. And that's what the legislation that I'll introduce into Parliament this week is all about. For somebody with an average student debt of $26,000, it'll mean that it'll wipe off about $1,200 off their student debt. 

In addition, this legislation will also introduce, for the first time ever, paid prac. And that's about providing financial support for teaching students, nursing students, midwifery students and social work students to help them with a bit of practical support while they do their practical training. 

Also, this legislation will uncap funding for fee-free university ready courses. These are the courses that provide a bridge between school and university to help people who aren't ready for uni just yet to get the skills they need to get into uni and to succeed when they get there. Thanks very much.

JOURNALIST: Minister, are you expecting cost of living to dominate the debate for this next session of Parliament?

CLARE: Cost of living is central to everything the Government is doing. We understand that there are a lot of Australians that are doing it tough. We've seen inflation drop by about half over the last two years. We've seen real wage growth – real wage growth happening now. We're turning Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses. But we know that there's a lot more work to do to help Australians that are doing it tough.

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