Media Centre

The Rudd Labor Government is committed to improving the standard of our Early Years Workforce. We know that there are great child care workers out there in Australian child care centres. They want to be part of delivering care and early learning for Australian children. Our nation under-invests in early childhood development and care. By the standards of the nations with which we compete, we come last in this investment. We want to make sure that Australian children have the benefit of early learning and quality early care.

That's why the Government is committed to a big suite of measures to develop a new framework for the early years. Pivotal to this is investing in those workers that provide that precious care. The Government is committed to meeting the TAFE fees of people who want to become child care workers. We want people to be going into this industry. We want to encourage them to do so and we'll be meeting their TAFE fees if that's what they want to do. We're also creating 1500 new places at Australian universities for early childhood teachers. These four year trained teachers will be part of our early year strategy, delivering that vital early education in child care centres in pre-schools around the country.

The Rudd Labor Government is committed to universal access to pre-school, to ensuring that every child in the year before school can go to pre-school for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year. It's a big suite of changes. We're committed to delivering them. We know we can only do it in partnership with those people who work in Australian child care centres and pre-schools. We want to invest in them too, and it's been a great pleasure to be here, to play a part in the launch of the Big Steps in Child Care campaign.

QUESTION:So why is this campaign needed? You - as you're saying, the Government's already addressing the skills crisis.

JULIA GILLARD:The campaign's needed because when we look right across this agenda, we've seen divisions between child care and education. We've seen under-investment. We want to get that right, right across the board. We want to make sure whether children are being cared for in child care centres, in long day care, whether they're being cared for at home and taken to pre-school, they all have the opportunity for an early years agenda. It means delivering our election commitments, but it also means developing a long term plan for the early years, for learning and care in the early years, and a long term plan for workforce development.

So we will be working with the union, with all stakeholders, with our state and territory colleagues, to make sure that there is a long term plan in this nation for investment in those very precious early years for Australian children.

QUESTION: How do you stop the child care centres lifting fees if, as child care workers are saying, there needs to be an increase in the pay scale?

JULIA GILLARD:Well of course, the Government is investing strongly in assisting working parents with meeting the costs of child care. In the recent Budget, we increased the child care tax rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. This is a benefit that is not income tested. It will mean that people have more dollars left in their purse or wallet after they've met the costs of child care.

We are also of course, investing in the provision of new child care centres, up to 260 new child and early learning centres. And that is going to be an important measure to add to the current provision of child care.

QUESTION:You want the child care industry to keep these down, but what do you mean?

 JULIA GILLARD:Well I've written to every child care provider, and asked them to disclose the fees they were charging at the start of this year, and the fees they're intending to charge from 1 July. We understand that the costs of providing child care go up from time to time, costs obviously go up around the place, and they go up in child care as well. But what we've said to child care providers is we don't want to see any unfair pricing practices. We want to know what fees are.

And it's amazing to me that after 12 long years of the Howard Government, we're in a situation where parents and the National Government don't know what fees are around the country. We're going to make sure that that information is available to parents.

We've also of course, got our major supply side measures, the development of up to 260 new child care centres, and we've said very loudly and very clearly that in selecting approved providers for those new child care centres, we will be looking for a track record of affordability, of providing affordable care.

QUESTION:So what action will you take once you have that information at hand?

JULIA GILLARD:All of the information will be available to parents through a website. That means if they are using child care today, or they are contemplating using child care in the future, thinking about that return to work, they will be able to look on the website, not only for fees, but for available places in their local area, and for quality standards.

We are also delivering on the supply side. The child care industry is an important provider of care and love to Australian children, but it's an industry and we are adding to that industry with up to 260 new centres. And as I say, we will be weighing the track record of potential providers for those new centres on the basis of whether or not they've got a track record of providing affordable care.

QUESTION:On another issue, why would the Government on Treasury advice [inaudible question]?

JULIA GILLARD:We always said that we were going to have a wide ranging review into the future of the car industry in this country. The car industry is an important manufacturing industry to this nation. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has always said that he doesn't want to be prime minister of a country that doesn't make things anymore. We've got a great history of being a manufacturing nation. We want to be manufacturing things for the future. We've always said that the Bracks review would be a wide ranging review. Obviously, Treasury advice will be made available to the Bracks review and considered by it.

QUESTION: [Inaudible] you and the Prime Minister on the record as saying that you'll always take the advice of Treasury. Why are you [inaudible question]?

JULIA GILLARD:Well, Government gets advice from a range of sources, and obviously the Bracks review will receive material from a range of sources as well. Treasury will be one of those sources. Of course, industry directly will be one of those sources. We've always said the Bracks review would be a wide ranging review. Of course, we want expert advice from a range of sources. Treasury's advice will be received by the Bracks review and considered by it.

QUESTION: It can't be a wide ranging review if it's not consider… [inaudible question]

JULIA GILLARD:We've always said it was going to be a wide ranging review. The former Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, is leading it up for the Government. The Bracks review has extensive terms of reference, and obviously the Bracks review will weigh the evidence before it, including the material that comes from Treasury.

QUESTION:Why would Kevin Rudd admit that he got the inflation figures wrong?

JULIA GILLARD:The main thing with inflation is to have a plan to deal with it, and what the Prime Minister has consistently said, what the Treasurer has consistently said, is we need to fight inflation with an economically responsible Budget.

At the same time, we've heard the Liberal Party describe inflation as a charade, and then they described it as a fairy tale. Finally this week, they described it as a central and serious economic challenge, but they don't have any plans to deal with it. Their only plan is to delay the Government's Budget, to put the surplus at risk. That is a plan to cause problems, not a plan to fight inflation.

QUESTION:But what's wrong with admitting a mistake?

JULIA GILLARD:Well the issue here of course, is having a plan to deal with inflation. The Government has laid down its Budget. Through our Budget, having a fiscally proven Budget, we want to be putting downwards pressure on inflation whilst at the same time supporting working families through our $55 billion family package.

Okay, thank you very much.