Page 212 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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There is a skill shortage in the ACT. There is a low level of unemployment. There is a shortage of housing, particularly affordable housing. All of this impacts on the workforce and the economy at large. And what impact will fewer kids in childcare centres have on the viability of those centres? What impact will fewer kids in the childcare system have on childcare prices? Minister Burch does not know, because she and her department have not done the modelling. They fessed up to that to the opposition recently in response to a freedom of information request. Minister Burch therefore washes her hands of any responsibility. Minister Burch does not know and does not care.
This Stanhope government is failing the young families of the ACT. It has no long-term plans for the future of childcare services in the ACT. It has no statistical data on which to develop those plans. Once again we see, demonstrated in this government’s aversion to consultation, that there has been no consultation with these young families on the imminent closure of the Gumnut Place Child Care Centre.
The point is that to take away a substantial proportion of the space that this centre currently occupies will ensure that the centre closes. They cannot continue to provide services for 35 places in the diminished space that will be available to them after the end of this year. There have been letters from successive ministers. Ms Burch is not the only one who has been at fault here. Her predecessor, Mr Barr, used exactly the same terminology when he told Gumnut Place Child Care Centre that they could not have the space in 2010. All he did was say, “Here is a number in the department. Ring it, and good luck in finding alternative accommodation.” That is not what community organisations who provide important services in the ACT expect. I demand better service on behalf of those organisations from any government in this territory.
To return to the synopsis of the Belvoir Street Theatre’s production featuring Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, will the stinky banskia men throw the families of Gumnut to the bottom of the sea and keep Gumnut Place for themselves? Is Minister Burch up to less good than usual? Will she continue to offer platitudes rather than help? Will she remain in denial over the level of childcare fees and the impact of government regulation on those fees? And are there weird things lurking in the shadows for other childcare centres in Canberra?
There is much for the mums and dads of the Gumnut Place Child Care Centre to find out. They have had no answers yet. They have come to the city and to this Legislative Assembly to get some answers. I wonder whether Ms Burch will be able to answer them today.
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (4.49): Thank you for the opportunity to speak to this motion. I will again provide some commentary on our investment. Firstly, I say that I will not be supporting Mrs Dunne’s motion. I think that would be quite clear and I will move amendments that I am hoping are now being circulated in my name. Before I go on, I just want to pick up on Mrs Dunne saying—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Excuse me a second. Are you formally moving the amendment now or what are you doing?
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