Page 93 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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In 2010 there was some significant debate where there was much discussion about the challenges of young parents juggling the pressures of their young families and keeping their jobs and careers. I particularly highlight the challenges faced by single parents in this regard who face not only the pressures of managing a family by themselves but often increased financial demands in doing so.
In the debate back in 2010 there was great stress on the importance that this plays in the functioning of our economy. The reality is that we need as many women as possible in the ACT to be in our workforce. We want to see that not just for economic reasons but also we want to make sure they have accessibility to our workforce. If families cannot find affordable child care, it is often women who will be required to stay at home to look after the kids. It is getting more expensive, particularly for ACT families, and that is the point.
It is worth reflecting on that debate back in 2010 so that we can see what has happened under Minister Burch over the last three or four years. I reflect on the comments of the then shadow minister, Mrs Dunne, back in 2010:
There are several unique aspects of the ACT economy which make affordable and accessible childcare in the ACT very important. The ACT has the highest workforce participation rate of women in any jurisdiction in the country. The ACT also has a large transient population, particularly with defence families who move to the ACT, who do not have family support networks to assist them with childcare.
These two important factors about our economy mean that there is a high demand for quality childcare in Canberra.
When we reflect on that debate and consider some of the utterances from Ms Burch, I do not think any of us at that stage were or subsequently have been filled with confidence that Ms Burch has any real passion for addressing affordability of child care within the ACT.
There is no doubt, as Mrs Dunne articulated, that this is a significant aspect of most people’s budget. I reflect on the time when I was a little bit younger and had a young family what a significant portion of my budget it was and the decision that we had to make in our family as to whether we could make the decision to send kids to child care, what that meant in terms of employment for my wife and whether she would continue to have a job waiting for her if she was not able to go back to work within a prescribed period. These are really difficult decisions that families have to make.
There will always be a cost to child care, but what we should see from this government is more action to make sure it is the lowest in the country and as low as it can be. But what we have seen since 2010—and the situation has got worse—is that child care is definitely not affordable and certainly is not relative to other jurisdictions.
I will quote further from some of the eloquent words of Mrs Dunne that talk about a particular case she used back then, because I think it is a good one:
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