Page 3601 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 2010
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and members Tyler Ellis, Steve Dascarolis, Mark Vergano, Kerri West, Jean McIntyre, Joan Ross and Patrick White. I also give my support to Cheryl Pollard and all her staff. They really do a superb job.
Of course, these sorts of organisations do not just happen by magic; they happen because of the support of their many volunteers and supporters. I would like to acknowledge the supporters: the platinum sponsors, the DECCA Building Group; the gold sponsors, Bendigo Community Bank, Calwell and Wanniassa branches, Efstratiou Electrical and the Lions Club of Canberra, Ginninderra; the silver sponsors, the Australian Medical Council, Capital Insurance Brokers, Eastlake Football Club, Watson Blinds and Awnings, Masa Constructions and Zurich Insurance Limited; the bronze sponsors, All Phones, Capital Veneering, the Content Group, Cricket ACT, Data Voice, DFPG, Dowse Norwood Architects, Music at Midday, Partners in Health and St Edmund’s College; and the government funding agencies, ACT Health, DHCS, Disability ACT, Home and Community Care and Mental Health ACT.
I encourage Assembly members and members of the broader community to support Tandem. They have a fantastic website at tandem.org.au. There you can find information about how you might be able to participate in their giving card program, their workplace giving program or other ways to get involved in sponsorship, partnership, volunteering or direct donations. I commend all the people who support tandem.
Education—early childhood
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (9.14): I just want to make some comments and actually share with the Assembly a media release I found this afternoon that was issued on 9 August by Early Childhood Australia—a voice for young children. The title of the media release is “Claims of cost increases to childcare are baseless, say experts”. The media release reads:
Claims that improving the quality of early childhood education and care will result in unaffordable cost increases for parents are unfounded says the nation’s leading advocacy organisation for young children.
Early Childhood Australia CEO … says the claims are not based on solid evidence and are simply scare mongering.
It is true that improvements in the quality of ECEC will cost money.
But suggestions that these changes will occur immediately and cost as much as $110 per week are misplaced and without foundation.
Economic modelling by Access Economics shows that the reforms will actually result in minimal increases in costs for parents. They anticipate increases of $8.67 after government subsidies.
And the reality is that the proposed reforms will be implemented over time and will not take full effect until 2020.”
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