Former treasury secretary Ken Henry said just last week that Australia’s environment protection laws have both failed to stop the degradation of Australia’s natural environment and held back economic growth, and they are undermining productivity. It’s true that, under the Albanese government, not only are Australians worse off, with soaring cost-of-living pressures, but Australia’s environment is also worse off.
Nothing is more important than the safety of our children, and early childhood education plays an incredibly important role. It provides our littlest Australians with a good start in life, a chance to learn and a chance to make friends. Early childhood education is also crucial for parents who are studying, training and working. Our early educators are so very important in shaping these young lives.
That was a frightening last thought from the member for Brisbane—the Greens with the balance of power in a minority Labor government. I couldn’t think of anything worse as a nightmare scenario than that being the case when we return from the federal election, apart from the fear that my community felt during the effects of Cyclone Alfred.
Last year, the Prime Minister promised Australia’s early childhood educators—200,000 of them—that they would receive a pay rise by the end of the year. But, in typical Labor fashion, it was just another broken promise. On 5 December, the education minister declared it was ‘payday’ for hundreds of thousands of early childhood educators. But this was yet another misleading headline, because we know that, by the end of 2024, fewer than 30,000 of those educators had received the promised pay rise, and, as of last month, only 19 per cent of eligible educators had received it.
It’s quite hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the 47th parliament. It seems like yesterday that I came to this place in 2019 and again in 2022, and I’m very proud to be the member for Moncrieff and advocate for you, my community, and, of course, for the Liberal National Party values of equality of opportunity, reward for effort and freedom of association and conscience.
Australian families do not believe the Prime Minister when he says that they’ll be better off under Labor again. Aussies are not mugs. They know they’ve been fooled once, but it won’t be twice. His promises that life will be easy have simply not come true.
Early childhood education is an essential service that families rely on to study, to work and to pay the household bills. That’s how the minister introduced her bill last week. And I must say, I found myself agreeing profusely with that statement, as that is exactly why this legislation should be voted down.
Over three years ago, those opposite promised Australians that life would be cheaper under Labor and, in those three years: interest rates have increased a massive 12 times; energy bills, not down by $275 but up by $1,000; living standards for Australians have collapsed by almost nine per cent; 27,000 businesses have gone insolvent—the most ever; and a family with a typical mortgage has spent an additional $50,000 on their interest payments.
The Prime Minister promised Australia cheaper child care. He promised a pay rise for 200,000 educators by the end of the year. But just like all of his other promises, like no changes to superannuation, no changes to the stage 3 tax cuts and—who can forget?—cheaper power bills, he has failed to deliver for Australians. Under Labor, the cost of child care has risen by 22.3 per cent, and the latest inflation data shows that, since Labor’s changes to the child-care subsidy, out-of-pocket fees have skyrocketed by 12.7 per cent.
It’s good to stand to speak on the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. There are some in our community who are sceptical about this legislation. As a Liberal, I can understand why. There have been many emails in my inbox from constituents with concerns, and I really would like to address […]