Labor’s breaking blocks, not building them

Angie Bell MP
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education
Shadow Minister for Youth
Federal Member for Moncrieff

MEDIA RELEASE

Labor’s breaking blocks, not building them 

28 February 2025

The Albanese Labor Government’s early childhood education policies have completely collapsed because they have been built on a shaky foundation of broken promises.

In its vain pursuit of a “legacy”, Labor has rushed through ill thought out policies which have made life harder for educators, providers and families.

Senate Estimates yesterday confirmed that despite pouring billions of dollars into the sector, none of Labor’s promises have been, or will be, fulfilled.

Government MPs from the Prime Minister down promised 200,000 educators would receive a pay rise by the end of last year. In fact, Education Minister Jason Clare dared to declare “it’s pay day for hundreds of thousands of early childhood educators.”

In reality, by 31 December 2024, just 29,300 educators had received the promised pay rise.

As of this week, the number sits at 38,642 – just 19% of eligible educators.

Meanwhile, small, medium and family owned services are struggling under the burden of complex applications and no transparency around how much they will actually receive.

Despite this egregious broken promise, the government is refusing to take responsibility for this mess.

It has also become abundantly clear Labor can’t be trusted to deliver 160 centres through its $1 billion Building Early Education Fund. Despite the government announcing it would roll out from July this year, Senate Estimates revealed there is absolutely no detail around it.

The government and department were unable to answer simple questions about how the fund will work, who will be eligible or when the money will go out.

The department has also acknowledged that despite Labor’s promise of a “three day guarantee”, it can’t actually be guaranteed.

It has also been confirmed there are no priority of access measures in place, which means no priority for hardworking families, or vulnerable families.

Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Angie Bell said this is the result of a Labor government that’s obsessed with spin, not substance.

“All Australians, young and old, deserve better than a Prime Minister and a government whose only skill is breaking promises.

“Labor’s haphazard approach to early childhood education policy is leaving a trainwreck behind. They’ve bungled absolutely everything and failed to make life easier for educators, providers and families.”

The Albanese Labor Government is all promise and no delivery.

[ENDS]