Labor’s childcare plan promises huge savings for parents

More details will be revealed on exactly how much money parents can expect to save with the proposed changes

Blair MP Shayne Neumann and ALP leader Anthony Albanese with Mila, Aubree and George at Cribb Street Childcare Centre in Sadliers Crossing.

CHILDCARE reform would give Anthony Albanese a legacy in line with some of Labor’s greatest former leaders if he is elected as the next Prime Minister according to his Ipswich colleague.

Blair MP Shayne Neumann joined the ALP leader in Ipswich on Friday to spruik the party’s proposed changes to the sector.

Speaking from Cribb Street Childcare Centre in Sadliers Crossing, Mr Albanese said Labor’s policy would make childcare more affordable and more accessible for more parents.

ALP leader Anthony Albanese with Blair MP Shayne Neumann at Cribb Street Childcare Centre in Sadliers Crossing on Friday.

If Mr Albanese is voted in at the next election, Labor will remove the annual subsidy cap of $10,560 a child which is place for families earning between $189,390 and $353,680.

The maximum childcare subsidy rate would also be increased from 85 per cent to 90 per cent.

This would mean from July 1 2022, families earning less than $80,000 would only pay 10 per cent of costs.

The party says 97 per cent of Australian families would save between $600 and $2900 a year.

“If we’re going to economically recover in a way that builds a stronger economy, we need economic reform,” Mr Albanese said.

“We need reform that boosts productivity. We need reform that boosts participation and we need reform that boosts population.

“They are the three Ps in which you can grow an economy.

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“Our childcare policy ticks all three growth boxes. It is good for children, but it’s also good for a national economy.”

Mr Albanese said his plan would also remove barriers for women wanting to return to the workforce after having kids.

“At the moment, it makes no sense that a woman in the workforce wanting to go back into work after childbirth has a disincentive to work on fourth or fifth day,” he said.

“That holds back careers. It also holds back productivity in businesses.

“It’s a disincentive to work. That makes no sense.”

Mr Albanese said more details would be revealed next week on exactly how much money parents can expect to save with the proposed changes.

Mr Neumann said a relatively young and fast growing city like Ipswich needed changes to the sector introduced during tough economic times.

“The average age of people in Ipswich is 32, the average age in Queensland is 37,” he said.

“We’re set to grow more than double in the next 20 years.

“The schools are teeming with children and so are the child care centres.”

Mr Neumann said he often spoke to parents who were being weighed down by ever increasing costs of living and childcare formed a large chunk of that.

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The cost of childcare has increased by 35.9 per cent since 2013.

“I think we need a federal Labor government for a number of reasons,” he said.

“One reason is that Labor governments make an appreciable difference in terms of social justice but also economic development.

“You look at (Gough) Whitlam, so many people went to university because he made tertiary education affordable and accessible.

“You look at (Bob) Hawke with Medicare, (Paul) Keating with superannuation. You look at (Kevin) Rudd and (Julia) Gillard with the NBN and the NDIS.

“If Labor wins the next federal election, what Prime Minister Albanese will have is a legacy of childcare.

“We will embed it in the same way that Hawke and Keating embedded those reforms.”

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.

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