KIERAN GILBERT: The Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, thanks for your time. We’ve got the administrator speaking to creditors for ABC Learning today for the first time. Can they expect some good news?
JULIA GILLARD: This is a usual procedural step when a company goes into administration. The creditors are brought together; they will be asked to confirm the administrator or potentially appoint another administrator. The receiver, which we are working with, will be in attendance at the meeting to observe it and obviously representatives of the Child Care Taskforce I set up will also observe the meeting. But this is a procedural step in the corporate law moves of ABC Learning. So everything that the Government has said to date still stands. We are working very strongly with the receiver. We have insolvency experts embedded with the receiver, working alongside them. We’ve provided up to $22 million to ensure centres can keep operating and we’ll be in the position to make a statement about the future of centres in December this year.
KIERAN GILBERT: Can the creditors expect anymore information though as to how ABC Learning’s prospects are looking? I mean you say it is part of the procedure, but can they expect anymore detail?
JULIA GILLARD: This is a standard step in these sorts of corporate circumstances. More details will ultimately flow from the receivers but we need to keep working with the receivers to establish the circumstances of each centre and to be in the position to make an announcement about their future in 2009. But obviously the Government acted immediately, as soon as there was a problem with ABC Learning, to work with the receiver to ensure that up to $22 million was available so that we could keep centres open. Kids getting child care, parents knowing that they can go to their ABC Centre and get child care as they have in the past, that all in operation until 31 December and before that date we’ll make an announcement about what’s going to happen in the long term.
KIERAN GILBERT: What about the reports today that one of an owner of 15 of the centres says that he will shut them down by Christmas unless he gets some guarantees about some staffing levels. What’s your response to this person and these threats that he’s making?
JULIA GILLARD: The person you refer to is Mr Don Jones. He is in a legal dispute with ABC Learning. He has a business providing staff to ABC Learning Centres and he’s in a major legal dispute with ABC Learning. So I suggest that any statements he makes about staffing in ABC Centres should be viewed in the context that he is a person with a commercial interest who is in the midst of a legal battle with ABC Learning.
I’d also say in relation to comments made by Mr Jones today, they are inflammatory. I don’t think that they are helpful. Mums and dads are obviously worried. And I think Mr Jones being out there trying to give the impression that centres could close overnight is really very unfair to the anxious mums and dads. The legal circumstance is clearly this: in respect of any child care centre in this country, a child care centre cannot close without giving 30 days notice. So to the extent Mr Jones has sought to frighten people by seeming to suggest that centres could close overnight, that cannot happen; it will not be happening and I think Mr Jones, really, should be more cautious in his language. He should be working with the receiver to help manage this situation the way everybody else is.
KIERAN GILBERT: There are suggestions that some of the ABC Learning centres are using clerical staff, office staff, to care for kids. Are you worried about that?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, I do note that these claims have been made by Mr Jones. They’re claims being made in a court case, which is about the right of Mr Jones’s company to be the exclusive provider of ABC Learning staff. So Mr Jones …
KIERAN GILBERT: So you haven’t received any sort of separate independent advice that clerical staff have been used in and you’re not worried about that?
JULIA GILLARD: What I would say to parents at ABC Centres, if they go to their centre and they believe there is a problem, they should certainly feel free to contact our child care hotline (180 2003). Obviously, licensing of child care centres is done by States and Territories, but we will assist and we will immediately pass any complaint on that a mum or dad has about their centre. But in respect of the comments made by Mr Jones, he is a man with a commercial interest involved in a legal contest with ABC Learning about the question of staffing in centres and I would say what he says about staffing in centres should be viewed in that context.
KIERAN GILBERT: Okay, there’s more than 400 local mayors in Canberra today, obviously a lot of them would be interested in picking up some of these centres. The Prime Minister’s announcing $300 million in infrastructure spending, will any of that money likely to go to child care centres establishing them? And is 300 really enough? Just a couple of weeks ago it seems the Government announced $10 billion as part of its Economic Security Package that rescue package?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, I suppose, to put it in order, obviously we’ve had the global financial crisis and we’ve been very clear with people that Australia’s not going to be immune. We want to make sure our economy is growing. Our $10.4 billion Economic Security Statement was an investment in keeping our economy growing. We said we would be making further investments. The Prime Minister today will outline all of the details of a new partnership, a new set of investments in local government.
On the question of child care and local government, many local governments around the country do run child care centres. It’s one of the services they want to bring to their community members and we know that some local governments are indicating an interest in the future of ABC Learning Centres. We’ve asked them to register that interest with the receiver.
KIERAN GILBERT: Okay, so this money could end up going to new centres. Is that the sort of thing you’re looking at?
JULIA GILLARD: Well I’m not in a position to give any details of the $300 million package. Obviously the Prime Minister will make a full announcement about that later today.
KIERAN GILBERT: Julia Gillard, thanks for your time.
JULIA GILLARD: Thank you.
ENDS