Red Wiggle Simon Pryce joins ‘dads alliance’ demanding paid leave for new fathers

Red Wiggle and first-time dad Simon Pryce is seeing his job as one of Australia’s most loved children’s entertainers in a new light now that his own son is clapping along.

Red Wiggle and first time dad Simon Pryce has a “whole new appreciation” for his work as one of Australia’s most loved children’s entertainers, now that his toddler son has started clapping along.

When Pryce saw he and wife Lauren Hannaford’s three-year-old son Asher mime and clap along to The Wiggles’ classic nursery rhyme ‘Rock-A-Bye Your Bear’ for the first time, it was an “incredible moment”.

“It’s this milestone your child’s reached, where they’re marrying words with actions, and they’re hearing, they’re listening and they’re following along,” Pryce said.

“I’ve got a whole new appreciation for what we do as Wiggles … the fundamental philosophy behind the Wiggles is to entertain, but also to educate and be part of that early learning and a child’s development.

“Every song we write is structured … and now you see first-hand how that all comes into play.”

Red Wiggle Simon Pryce with his cheeky, clever three-year-old son Asher at Burrows Park in Clovelly. Picture: Tim Pascoe

Pryce is one of several famous Aussie fathers joining a ‘dad’s alliance’ to demand the federal government expand paid parental leave, lift wages for early childhood educators and work to attract more men into the heavily female-skewed profession.

The alliance, formed by the Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, also includes comedian Hamish Blake and musician David McCormack – best known as the voice of cartoon dog dad Bandit Heeler in Bluey.

Musician and voice actor Dave McCormack has also joined the dads’ alliance. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

McCormack is the voice of Bandit, the blue Heeler dad in Bluey. Picture: ABC

Calling for twelve weeks of federally-funded paid parental leave for fathers, Pryce said taking the financial heat off new families would “make a huge difference” for dads to be part of their child’s first milestones.

“The pressures of living are enough without everything else on top of it – you’ve got that moment of grace, where you can just sit back and breathe and enjoy that time together as a family,” he said.

“In a weird way, we were fortunate because we had Asher during Covid … I wasn’t out on the road touring, and I didn’t have to go the studio that much.

Pryce, wife Lauren Hannaford and son Asher. The couple were ‘weirdly lucky’ to have had their first child during the pandemic. Picture: Tim Pascoe

“We have a really wonderful special bond now, because of the early months we got to share together.”

Thrive by Five director Jay Weatherill said with no specific allocation of parental leave for fathers, dads are missing out on time they need to build their parenting skills, and establish routines for the rest of their children’s lives.

“(Being a father) is a serious job that puts a lot of pressure on families, and this can this can be a really important way in which those responsibilities can be shared,” he said.

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